


Knowing

by Jenna_the_Damaged



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Flirting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Flirting, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Murder, Murder-Suicide, Not Beta Read, Post-Soul Society Arc, Psychic Abilities, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:13:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28976436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenna_the_Damaged/pseuds/Jenna_the_Damaged
Summary: Almanse Jessie has a relatively lonely life in this world until she "dies", is told she is needed somewhere, and falls out of the ceiling at Urahara's Shop. She finds herself inexplicably trusting the handsome and humble shopkeeper and wanting to help in any way she can, but others are watching...A story about someone from this world being dumped into Urahara's shop and trying to find a purpose and a life of friends and belonging. Tags and summary will be adjusted as relevant to content based on chapter releases.Just something floating around in my head that I started writing to try to free up space in my brain. What's posted might be all I share, because I don't know that there would be any interest, but more than several chapters are already written.
Relationships: Urahara Kisuke/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Jessie sat watching TV when suddenly what seemed like an explosion occurred. Jessie found herself in a weird void of darkness and facing a glowing being. It spoke to Jessie with a voice that seemed to reverberate all around her, "I am here as a regulator of balance. You are needed in a different dimension than the one you've known until now. Things that need to happen only can do so with your presence there. I can transport you there, but if I do, there'll be no turning back."

"Are you sure you've got the right person? I doubt anywhere 'needs' me. I'm just a nobody"

The being replied, "Whether you believe it or not, you are the person I came for. There will be only bad for the alternate place if I don't deliver you, but I won't take you against your will."

"Is it some kind of place of eternal torment or something?" Jessie asked worriedly.

"No, the dimension is similar to your current one. Its differences do not make it worse, only different, and it is likely you would fit there better than you do here."

Jessie thought for a minute, thinking of her current lonely, boring and empty life and then replied, "It would be nice to be needed. Sure, go ahead and take me there."

The next thing Jessie knew was she was falling out of a portal and landing on the floor of a shop. 

Looking toward the now normal ceiling that Jessie somehow came through, she yelled toward it, "Seriously?!" And as she stood, surprised she wasn't injured from the fall, she found herself surrounded by people wearing various robes and holding swords. Jessie immediately put her hands up, saying, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to surprise anyone." Then suddenly, Jessie realized she was speaking Japanese and saw that her hands were no longer matching the race she'd grown up as. _*Wow*_ , she thought, _*it switched my body and language with no warning.*_ Then, looking back at her surroundings, added "I'm just as surprised as you guys that I'm here so please don't skewer me or whatever. I'm more than willing to leave if I could just be pointed to an exit."

A man wearing a floppy hat and holding a foldable fan approached, "We also do not mean to startle you, but your appearance is unexpected. Perhaps you could take a seat and we could talk and together make clarity of the situation." Before they could move, he added, "You look as though you do not feel well."

"I just... " Jessie absentmindedly chewed her lip, before continuing, "Maybe it's an after effect of whatever I just came out of... I feel as though I'm underwater. Or like," continued lip chewing as Jessie tried to think how to explain the odd and unpleasant feeling, "...like the air is too heavy and it's harder to breathe."

The fan man gestured towards some in the room, though spoke to Jessie, "Maybe if we have some of us leave the room it might help it feel less claustrophobic in here." He then walked Jessie and himself to a couple of cushions on the floor, seating her on one and taking the other for himself, while several of the sword-wielders left the room.

Jessie found herself gnawing on her knuckles, a habit she'd had for years. Gradually, the crushing feeling lessened to a more manageable level and Jessie found herself breathing easier. "Thank you."

"I'm nothing if not a gracious host, even when not expecting guests. My name is Urahara Kisuke."

It seems in addition to body and spoken language changes, Jessie found herself understanding certain Japanese norms as though she had grown up there, like that the family name came first, "Almanse Jessie."

"Well, Almanse-san, perhaps you could share with me how you came to be in the middle of my humble shop."

Nodding agreeably, Jessie replied, "Of course, though I'm not sure how useful it'll be. I was in my home, just watching television, and then there was an explosion. I suddenly found myself in an empty space with something that glowed too brightly to see clearly. It spoke and told me there was somewhere I was needed but..." she worried how dumb things were probably sounding, "...it was another dimension. It said something bad would happen without me. I tried to explain that obviously I was the wrong person, but it insisted it was me and said it was sending me on a one way trip. I'd assumed that I'd at least be expected, forgetting how bad it is to ever assume."

"This being didn't specify what the bad something was or your specific part in preventing it?" Jessie shook her head, looking apologetic. Urahara fiddled with his fan, opening and closing it several times. "It seems this will not be so quickly resolved."

"I'm sorry I don't have more useful information, Urahara-san." Jessie bowed her head and continued, "I know this all probably sounds stupid." While Urahara thought, Jessie looked around at the room they were in and the people still sitting in the room, and then commented, "Oh! You have a cat! She's so beautiful!"

"Oh, yes. This is Yoruichi-san. She's been with me a long time." As the black cat rubbed up against Jessie's legs, Urahara stood and said, "Since it seems unlikely you have a place to stay, let me show you a room you can stay in for the time being." 

Jessie stood and babbled "Oh, but I don't want to inconvenience you more than I've already interrupted. I could just leave and... and come back if I find out anything."

Urahara smiled and said, "Please, don't worry, you're not an inconvenience, you're a mystery and a puzzle to solve. And I know you don't yet know me, but I love solving mysteries and puzzles." He led her to a simple room with a traditional bed roll, a dresser and a desk with lamp. "Maybe Yoruichi-san could keep you company while I see if I can find any information."

Looking at the floor apologetically, Jessie replied, "That would be nice, thank you, Urahara-san." She then looked up and made eye contact with Urahara, "Maybe, if you have some paper and a pen I could use, I could try to think of anything that might be useful about me." Urahara agreed and brought some pen and paper before closing the door and leaving Jessie and the cat alone.

Jessie sat at the desk, setting the paper down and grabbing the pen. The cat leapt up and Jessie absentmindedly pet her while thinking out loud and absentmindedly chewing on the pen, "I think this most likely must be a dream or my brain making some last little fantasy while I'm laying somewhere and dying from the explosion." She gave the cat some pets and skritches, "I figure best case scenario is this being real and this place needs an extra person in it for like quota or something and so the entity just grabbed the most expendable person from my world." Jessie frowned, "But I figure I'll do my due diligence on the slim chance I actually somehow matter, so... hmmm... maybe I could be meant to be a human sacrifice or something... though only if you don't have anyone already here that could've been used" Jessie wrote 'human sacrifice', then continued, "hmmm... well," 

Jessie looked at the cat while continuing to pet her, "...animals always like me and I seem to always know just how they like to be pet... but I think that's just common courtesy. Maybe someone important needs my organs to save them." Jessie put 'organs or body parts'. "I can't cook, I can only sort of bake... I like to draw, but I'm not anything amazing... I have excess empathy but I'm told that's just called 'trauma response'... ummm... I have several hundred songs partially or fully memorized, but I can not think of any scenarios where that would be 'change dimensions' kind of helpful..."

"I used to have a bit of foreknowledge abilities... probably not enough to matter, but I'll put that in for now just so the list isn't as pathetically short." Pen chewing, "Maybe I could be a human shield, though this body isn't as thick as I had before today. Maybe a volcano deity needs fed but they didn't want to lose anybody important..."

After the surprises that had occurred and then the straining to think of possibilities, Jessie eventually dozed off. Once Jessie was asleep, Yoruichi-san shifted from black cat to human. She lifted Jessie's head to replace paper with pillow, and laid a blanket over her shoulders before departing the room. 

\----------

When Jessie awoke, she was surprised to see she was sitting at a desk with a blanket and pillow. She couldn't find her work in progress list nor the cat so she wandered back out to where she'd originally appeared. She saw Urahara was there alone, petting the black cat and holding her list. 

"I don't think my list was yet ready for public viewing," she commented, embarrassed. 

"But this," Urahara pointed to the relevant part of her list, "it's worth knowing. It would be very useful that you see the future."

"Moreso felt and spoke, and only for unimportant things, and not since I scared myself as a teen. Even my mother only ever saw once that I'm aware of."

"If so trivial, how did you scare yourself?"

"It's really stupid #sigh# I awoke with a very bad feeling, the worst I'd felt and could not source it. All seemed normal, even reaching school, but then I overheard whispers of something having happened that night. Only getting bits of information at a time, I first discovered a student had died, and then how unpleasantly and only during the last class found it was my friend. She had recently invited me to her wedding for the approaching summer. I was upset to discover her death, and that was all for the rest of the day, until I selfishly began to think past it and wonder if one day I would know my own death beforehand and be unable to change it and that just seemed a terrifying prospect. It was the last time of whatever intuition I'd had."

"I get a sense for felt, but how do you mean spoke?"

"I would sometimes suddenly speak a few words or a sentence that would then happen shortly after if nearby or at the same time if far."

"And what had your mother saw?"

"Perhaps the ability would have faded regardless at the end of childhood because my mother saw while a child. She dreamt of her grandfather holding his wife in his arms, rocking and sobbing and repeating 'I'm sorry' and she told this to my aunt in the morning. Later in the day, someone found her grandparents both dead. It seemed, whether by accident or intention, my mother's grandfather had shot and killed his wife and then himself." Jessie finished subdued. 

"So you don't think you still have any ability?"

Jessie stared at her hands, "That's even assuming I ever had anything. It could just be self delusion making me think things. It could be perfectly normal life where you might feel you are certain about something you have no evidence to support or to say something beforehand like how some people might think of someone they haven't spoken with for some time and then their phone rings from that person... "

"And you can think of no other possible reason for your appearance?"

"I've been wracking my brain, trying to think of any possible use that only I would have, but am left assuming the entity made a mistake. And now I worry that whatever bad thing the entity referenced will now still happen despite everything." Jessie stifled a yawn. 

"For now perhaps you should go back to your room and get some rest, Almanse-san." As Jessie departed, Urahara added, "And if you'd like, if Yoruichi-san shows an interest later to getting through your door, I could open it slightly to let her in to sleep with you."

"That would be fine. Thank you, Urahara-san."

\------

In the bedroom, Jessie didn't even bother to pull back the covers, she dropped to her knees on the bed roll and plopped face first onto the pillow, only then realizing how very tired she still was as she promptly fell asleep. 

Hours later Jessie found herself feeling again like a crushing weight was on her. Beside her on the bed was the black cat. "Yoruichi-san, I don't suppose you feel like a weight is crushing you, do you?" Petting the friendly cat, "I wonder if I should try to figure out why that is..." The cat laid on Jessie's arm, "Eh, you're right. It's not like I can do anything even if I figured it out." Jessie tried to ignore the pressing feeling long enough to fall asleep, aided by the cat purring.

\------

In the morning, Jessie lay on a bed roll, partially surprised to not be waking up where she came from, with recent events being a weird dream. She found herself absentmindedly petting the cat before being consciously aware of its presence. Jessie's stomach growled. "Ah," Jessie patted her stomach with her free hand, "I suppose I'm going to have to figure out food. I don't like to impose more on Urahara-san than that glowing thing's already caused. #sigh# It would have been nice if something powerful enough to cause dimensional travel and everything could've been more forthcoming. If not what I'm meant for at least how I'm supposed to support myself without being a leech to anyone. #sigh# I've got to figure out how to earn money when I don't have any papers or anything to identify myself?" Jessie's stomach growled again, "#sigh# I guess step 1 is getting up, regardless."

Jessie had slept in the clothes she had arrived in, so no changing required before hesitantly going down the stairs to the main area of the store, the cat preceding her. 

At the bottom of the stairs, Ururu introduced herself to Jessie while holding a neatly folded outfit and towel, "Urahara-san thought you might enjoy a shower and a change of clothes. Follow me to the shower, please."

Jessie reluctantly followed, worrying about receiving more from her unexpected host, but kept quiet. Ururu departed with the dirty clothes and Jessie did feel more like a person now that she was clean and in fresh clothing. 

Jessie went back downstairs to find several people gathered at a table, having breakfast. There was an empty spot, Jessie stood in front of it and addressed Urahara, "Thank you for the clean clothes and the use of your home." Urahara turned to face her more directly, which made Jessie nervous, but she continued, "I think it's obvious that the glowing being made a mistake and you should not be expected to host a nobody just because they fell from your ceiling."

"I see..." Urahara replied slowly, "That's very kind of you to consider my potential obligations. What then do you plan to do?"

"I would not want to bore you with my petty details, Urahara-san, you have already been more hospitable than I deserve as a random intruder."

"Perhaps in repayment you could ease my curiosity about your plans, please?"

Jessie chewed her lip nervously, "I will just walk until I find somewhere out of the way to pass the time and then... in a couple of days," Jessie broke eye contact, "the problem will solve itself."

Jinta commented, "It takes longer than that to starve to death."

Jessie looked surprised at the comment, "I don't expect to starve to death! I... I've realized something else about myself and I think, though the being changed my body, it didn't change everything and my prior body took pills for anxiety and depression and PTSD and I thought that might've been fixed with a new body, but different body, same mind and soul and it seems it couldn't fix a broken mind or a fractured soul." She was just staring down at the seat in front of her while hugging her arms around herself. 

Jessie stood quietly, unsure if she should just walk away or wait for a response first. After a quiet moment passed, Urahara commented, "It feels awkward to have you standing while the rest of us are sitting. Would you please do me the favor of sitting with us, Almanse-san?"

Jessie didn't feel she could refuse, so honored the request and sat at the table, keeping her eyes aimed at its surface.

Urahara spoke, "First, I'd like to make an introduction between guests. Almanse-san, to your right is Kurosaki Ichigo, a friend and occasional student." Jessie and Ichigo exchanged greetings before Urahara continued, "As to where you should stay, I feel no imposition in having you here. In fact, whether you were correctly brought here or in error, I think your presence is a good thing."

"But what if I am the bad thing? I didn't have much time to think at the time, but it could just as easily have been something evil doing something bad to bring me here." Jessie just stared at the table in front of her. 

"Well, I am convinced that you are not evil so if you were sent as a blessing or a curse, it doesn't matter and we will adapt around it."

Jessie had returned to lip chewing, "If I were to stay here... I'm not aware of any danger I pose to others but if... if my mind travels the same path it has in the past when unmedicated..." Jessie took a shaky breath and looked at Urahara, "I can't be trusted not to be a danger to myself."

Jessie could see the seriousness in Urahara's eyes and watched as he waved his fan and brought a smile to his face and spoke in a tone to lighten the mood, "And we will manage things. Don't worry and right now the priority is that you need to eat. Tessai-san, you'll find, is a remarkable cook."

Tessai then spoke to her, "Your breakfast options are fish, tempeh or tofu."

"I would love some tofu," Jessie replied enthusiastically, while trying to stifle the reflexive nervousness she felt whenever asking for something for herself. She found herself having shifted to chewing her knuckles. Jessie tried not to do it but found whenever she forgot to pay attention, she inevitably found she'd resumed gnawing her knuckles again. In an attempt to feel less awkward, Jessie tried to talk to Ichigo, "I remember you were here when I arrived."

"When you fell out of the ceiling, it was quite a shock."

"Speaking of shocks..." Jessie thought of a question that had been in the back of her mind, "Um... please forgive if it is a stupid question, but since I know there are differences between here and where I came from..." Jessie hoped it wasn't a completely stupid question, "I was curious if it is standard for everyone to carry around swords here?"

Ichigo looked nervous, glancing toward Urahara before answering simply, "No. Only some people and only for some situations."

A sigh of relief, "So I don't have to worry about randomly being expected to duel anyone then. That's good because I'm so uncoordinated I'd be more likely to accidentally maim myself if I had to defend myself with a sword."

"No worries then. Shouldn't be any dueling going on." 

Tessai placed a tray in front of Jessie with several bowls on it. One with tofu, one with steamed rice, one with seaweed and another with pickled vegetables. There were a couple smaller bowls with sauce and a pair of chopsticks. Fortunately, like her body and language, she was now well versed in the use of chopsticks as if she'd been using them frequently since childhood. With the first few mouthfuls, Jessie became keenly aware of how very hungry she actually was and practically inhaled the rest.

Once there was not a scrap left, and fighting the urge to lick the dishes for whatever microscopic remnants there might be, Jessie set down the chopsticks with a satisfied sigh. "I hope everything was satisfactory," Urahara commented with a grin.

Slightly more confident, Jessie grinned in response, "Everything was very delicious. Thank you so much, Urahara-san and Tessai-san, of course."

"Glad to hear it." Urahara replied. Jessie took a sip of tea and as she was setting it back down on the table, Urahara asked, "Are you feeling okay right now?"

Jessie had closed her eyes for a moment, rubbing her eyes. Upon opening her eyes, Jessie commented, "I think my brain just hasn't yet caught up with the fact I've eaten," eyes closing again, "I'm just feeling kind of dizzy at the moment." 

She felt like something was bubbling in her brain. The feeling started to grow warmer and spread out to the rest of her body. Breathing was speeding up and she was feeling shaky and vaguely like she was touching a hot stove. Without a conscious thought, she leapt up, followed by a step back before losing her balance and falling backwards. Instead of landing on the ground, Jessie found herself caught by Urahara inexplicably moving quickly enough to reach her.

Steadying Jessie on her feet, Urahara asked, "Are you okay, Almanse-san?"

Hand to her now pounding head, eyes closed, "Everything is vibrating." Opening her eyes and moving her hand to massage the back of her neck, "It... feels... familiar? Is everything really vibrating?"

"I can't know what you are feeling unless you tell me." Urahara replied, a hand remaining on her shoulder, "Was vibrations what caused you to jump up?"

Jessie guiltily glanced at Ichigo, who was trying to casually not look their way while continuing to eat. "No. The vibration wasn't until I got up. When I was still sitting, I felt like I would combust if I didn't move."

Jessie didn't realize she was staring at Ichigo until Urahara asked, "Is there something bothering you about Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo turned to face them, Jessie quickly looked down, "Um... no... I just... I thought I saw... something..."

Urahara patted the shoulder he was touching, "Nobody will judge you for truth."

Jessie turned back to look at Ichigo, "It's like a fire. He glows red with... with strings shooting out in all directions."

"And what if you look at me?" Urahara asked. 

Jessie looked at Urahara and blushed. _*Urahara-san is so handsome!*_ Jessie thought before closing her eyes, "It's more felt than seen..." Jessie placed a hand on top of Urahara's hand still on her shoulder, "It is like... like electricity but not and it is like it is..." Jessie tried to find words, partly wanting to comment on the feeling like electricity was flowing from him to her, but that sounded too embarrassing in her head so she followed the feeling back towards Urahara, but lacked sufficient vocabulary to express as accurately as she would have preferred, "...is as if it is... pressed small like in a jar..." Jessie removed her hand from on top of Urahara's and opened her eyes, staring at the floor nervously.

"Very good!" Urahara commented while removing his hand from Jessie's shoulder; Jessie immediately missed the contact. Smiling and waving his fan energetically, Urahara continued, "And you worried you could not do anything!" Urahara playfully scolded. "Do you think you would feel comfortable sitting beside Kurosaki-kun again?"

Jessie nodded, commenting, "I... I think so. I think it was just the initial sensation was so shocking." As Jessie moved back to the table, Urahara retook his seat as well. Jessie looked at Urahara after he was seated, "Is it like seeing auras? I met someone once who said he could see my aura, but didn't know if it was true or if auras were even real."

"There is spiritual energy, which could be what they were referring to. What color did he say it was?"

"He said it was brown. I asked if that was good or bad and he said it was in between. However, this is also someone who tried to invite me to go out with him and his friends to someplace nearby where he said witches were burned and they wanted to 'channel their spirits' and feel what they felt, which seemed to me a weird thing to do."

Ichigo commented, "Sounds like a nut job."

"Yeah, I think probably so." Jessie turned to Ichigo, "I'm jealous of your hair because it's my favorite color. One of my friends in school had the same natural color and then my hair just naturally looked like dirt."

"It doesn't look like dirt now."

"Yeah," Jessie pulled some of her hair forward, "It's longer than it was also. I used to keep it this long until I was 19 and could disobey my parents. I went to a place and had them cut it to here," Jessie gestured to the bottom of her ear. "The lady cutting it had hair only to mid back and she cringed the whole time she was cutting. Everybody seemed to be bracing for something bad but when it was done, I had no regrets. I felt so light and free and it was so wonderful," Jessie lit up at the memory. "Even now, I can remember how happy it was to not have that weight on my head, but I didn't warn my mother so when I came home she almost died." Jessie smiled guiltily, "I would have felt bad if she had actually died from it but since she didn't, I just remember her clutching her chest and her breath was making a wheezing sound and I felt like such a rebel," Jessie laughed, "Even being nervous at my parents' reaction didn't spoil the thrill so even now, if I cut my hair I never have regret and only feel liberation." Jessie ran fingers down the raven black hair that flowed down to her hips, "Though I don't know if I'd cut this. It's not as heavy as my former hair felt."

Jessie felt herself getting a headache. She didn't even realize she was massaging the back of her neck. She took another sip of her tea. She looked at Urahara and asked, "So can everyone in this world see spiritual energy?"

"Most can't," Ichigo commented, "but we can."

Jessie felt something she didn't yet have a word to assign to it, but it caused her to turn towards the front of the store. A moment later, a couple people entered the doorway. Urahara greeted them and then made introductions between them and Jessie. The newcomers were Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai Renji.

They settled in around the table and Jessie went back to watching Ichigo out of the corner of her eye. "Urahara-san, how do I know if I'm seeing something real or if it is just creative imagination?"

"Why would you think anything you saw was just imagination?"

"I'm having vague memories of being told as a child that some things and people weren't real and that I just have an overactive imagination."

"It's possible you were able to see things others couldn't because they just lacked the ability you have. Are you seeing something new right now?"

"Well..." Jessie paused and glanced back, "I feel like I'm picking on Kurosaki-kun..."

"It's fine," Ichigo commented. 

Jessie tried to think of words to convey what she felt, "It's like I see and don't see at the same time, like if you hold your hand up and you can focus on it or on whatever is further away in the room instead." Jessie was back to rubbing the back of her neck as her headache persisted, "I can see Kurosaki-kun's normal face but then also, like a... well it's still really blurry, but a white mask with markings on-" she bent forward slightly, clutching her stomach. 

"Almanse-san, are you okay?" Ichigo asked, drawing the attention of the others.

"Sorry, don't worry about me. Just a bit of a headache and an upset stomach. I'll be fine," she tried to straighten her posture but only managed to slightly move before her eyes closed from the intensity of the headache and she bent forward again like she'd been kicked in the stomach. She didn't know what happened next because everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changes are happening and that's tiring and can lead to more sleep and bad cravings.
> 
> Tw mentions of self harm and suicidal impulses

She awoke in her bed roll, accompanied solely by a familiar black cat. Without looking, she absentmindedly stroked the fur of the purring feline while trying to will the room to stay still. "I feel like I was run over by a truck and now the room is riding on the back of that truck."

Against her better judgment, she decided to try sitting up. "Oof," she achieved her goal, but was waiting to see if it was worth having done so. She wavered, then fell back onto her pillow as she proved too unsteady to maintain herself upright. Eyes closed as she willed the room to please calm down, she heard the cat jump over her and presumably exit through the partially opened door. "Sorry, kitty. I'm sure you didn't appreciate the disruption."

She felt movement and looked to the door to see Urahara open the door the rest of the way and enter. Jessie tried again to sit up, bracing herself with her arms supporting her, hands pressing into the bed roll on either side of her legs. "I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I'm sorry for whatever disruption I've caused."

Urahara waved his fan dismissively, "Don't even worry about it. I would never hold feeling unwell against you... well except for trying to hide it." He squatted beside the bed roll so he was better able to see her down turned face, "I would prefer in the future if you'd let me know when you're feeling badly. I'd hate to find you suffering in silence."

"Sorry, Urahara-san, I was hoping not to be more trouble for you."

"Don't worry about trouble. Often trouble is the best thing to liven up this place. Now," Urahara reached out and placed a hand to Jessie's shoulder, stilling the slight wobbling she still had, "I see you are still feeling a bit unsteady. Am I correct?"

"I'm just grateful the headache seems to have decreased at least, but yes, I feel unbalanced. I don't suppose your shop is suddenly on a boat?" She tried not to let herself solely focus on the fact that his hand was on her shoulder.

"Well, no, definitely not on a boat. If you could accommodate me, I think it could be helped by breathing."

"As far as I know, I've not been holding my breath," Jessie gave a small laugh, confused. 

"Yes, but I'm referring to something more than just your every day breathing. First, let's have you move back so you can lean against the wall." He stood and assisted in the wobbly movement. "Next, cross your legs and rest your hands on your knees for balance. Now, close your eyes and breathe in for 5 seconds," Urahara's hand was back on Jessie's shoulder, "Breathe out for 7 seconds." He guided her through several more sets and in addition to feeling her overall well-being improving, she once again felt like some sort of energy interaction was occurring between the two of them via the hand on her shoulder. 

Jessie felt steady once again, and as good as she had managed to feel lately. She let out a relaxed sigh and commented, "That did help. The room isn't moving for me anymore."

"That's good to hear," Urahara commented, removing his hand and standing up straight. Jessie looked at him and her eyes widened briefly, her lip finding its way once again between her teeth. "Is something wrong?" Urahara asked. 

Jessie made eye contact with Urahara, "Not wrong, just... confusing..."

"In what way?"

"Well you look as good as you normally do," Jessie turned away, blushing at realizing how that sounded, "but also like..." 

"Would you mind if I sat on your bed roll?" Head shake so he sat. "I'll continue to remind you until it sticks. You won't be judged for truth."

"It's like you are duplicated... into 3 layers. The way I've seen you and the deepest layer looks very similar but between them... a... puppet?"

"Incredible. It's actually a gigai."

"A gigai? I'm still very confused."

"I'm not surprised." Urahara chuckled, "I was hoping to ease you into some things so you wouldn't get information overload, but the abilities you didn't think you had are progressing too quickly for that approach." He proceeded to give her an overview of plus souls and Hollows and the Soul Society and Shinigami. And, though she didn't know it a possibility, she was luckily not bombarded with rabbit pictures like someone else tended to use when explaining things.

"Wow, this world is much more interesting than where I came from... it doesn't seem as much like I'm a freak here..."

"You are definitely not a freak. It's terrible if anyone has ever made you feel that way."

"Thank you," she replied. 

"You've been asleep a full day and it's nearing lunch time, if you're feeling up for it,

"Now that the room isn't in motion, food sounds like a wonderful idea."

\---------

At lunch, it was Jessie, Urahara, Tessai, Jinta and Ururu. "So, you try to kill yourself yet?" Jinta asked, thinking himself funny.

"You mean since you last saw me or ever?"

Not the response Jinta was expecting, "Um... ever?"

Jessie smiled at him, "Obviously not successfully yet," and then resumed eating like she'd just commented on the weather. 

After a few shocked moments blinking, Jinta tucked his head down and focused on his food. 

Nobody else commented and only sounds of eating were present for several minutes until Urahara decided the mood needed lightening, "So..."

He was cut off by Jessie speaking again, having already finished eating, "If nobody would be offended, I'd like to go take a shower. I'm feeling grimy."

"Of course, Almanse-san. I hope you enjoyed your meal," Urahara replied.

"Yes, it was delicious. I'm truly fortunate to have landed here when I arrived in this world," Jessie replied before heading back upstairs. 

Those remaining at the table all turned to look at Urahara with the same look in their eyes. No longer hungry, Urahara replied, "I'm handling it. Don't worry," but his tone betrayed a hint of the frustration he was feeling at not having a fully formed plan yet and he got up and left the room to get away from them into the shop front.

\-------

As water flowed over her, Jessie once again marveled at her new body; the long hair that was substantial yet somehow not the dragging weight she'd felt from her old hair, her eyes were able to see clearly both near and far, her ears lacked the piercings she'd had for years. She wondered if she should get her ears pierced again. Obviously, not the priority at the moment, but something she was considering. Her body felt like it might even be at least slightly younger than her former, but it also just might be that it was better taken care of. Lean and with just a healthy amount of muscle and she wondered if she should start an exercise regimen to keep it that way. But what most she observed... she tried to focus on all the other changes instead. Her lips had been healthy and yet she had already chewed them back to being quick to bleed. Her skin... the skin on her face was clear and unblemished. Her knuckles had little nicks and minor bruising from chewing on them. Her thighs... her knees no longer had that little hitch she'd feel in the left knee from a long ago injury. Her nails were strong and healthy and she had so far managed to keep them that way. Maybe she'd see if she could get a nice polish to protect them and hopefully prevent her chewing or picking at them. Her thighs... she couldn't distract further, her thighs were smooth and supple; no bruises to the front or sides and especially... she ran her fingers across the expanse, telling herself she was just soaping them up... for the 3rd time. Her thighs were smooth and no... no lines. No marks that might bleed if she scrubbed too hard. No lines from long ago that could remind her how long there had been lines bleeding. She didn't need the lines, she didn't, she... didn't, she... might just a little. Maybe she could just keep something near... just a small blade, but not use it. Maybe that would be enough comfort... if she could just know she could if she....

Jessie turned off the water and got out, toweling off and realizing she was unsure how long she'd been in the shower. _*Well, nobody came in to check if I was dead, so hopefully not too long.*_ She hadn't heard anyone enter, but her cast off clothes were gone and a new outfit was sitting in a neatly folded stack. 

\---------

Jessie decided to hang out in the store after her shower, She was looking at what Urahara had on display for purchase, while Urahara sat casually by the door. 

Inoue Orihime walked in. 

"Fairies!" Jessie gasped, hands to her mouth in shock. 

"What?" asked a confused Orihime.

"Well, they are little flying people, wouldn't that be Fairies?"

"Are you saying you see my-"

Jessie talked to what appeared to be empty air near Orihime, "Oh, but what happened to you?..." Jessie gestured like gathering something from the air into her left hand and then, looking offended, "Well you don't have to be rude!" Orihime goes to speak, but Urahara gestures for her not to interrupt, as he continues to watch, fascinated. 

Jessie was then talking to her open left hand, "Are all fairies rude or is it just you?..."

"Well it's probably difficult to find someone to help you if you're going to be so grouchy..."

"No, I don't think I'd be grumpy in pieces because I think it's not something I would survive," she appeared to be moving something around in her hand by picking something up with two fingers of her right hand. 

"Firstly, I didn't claim I could fix you, and secondly, I am more than willing to just put you back where I found you if you'd prefer," she continued to seemingly fiddle with the invisible contents of her open left hand as she spoke. 

She also seemed to have forgotten anyone else in the room, "Well, you'd probably have a better chance of doing that if your arm was in one piece, but the threat doesn't exactly encourage me to try to continue..." 

She moved a few more things around, "Okay, so I don't know if you'd need some sort of special fairy glue but- #sigh# fine some Orihime’s power's glue, but I'm just, well it seems this piece should go here and," the forgotten others in the room saw a brief flash of light shine in Jessie's hand, "oh, look, it snapped right back together!" 

Getting a slightly irritated look, "Are you broken because someone got tired of your attitude because I could see stomping on you right now or..." evil grin, "I could see if I can get your hand to attach where your foot should go..."

"Do you really want to dare me because I've got mental health issues and you might switch me from help mode into toss-you-in-a-blender mode--"

"Oh, please don't do that!" Orihime interrupted, reminding Jessie of her existence. 

She gave Orihime a reassuring smile, "Don't worry. It's an empty threat; I only hurt myself, so he's safe. Has this guy always been a massive jerk in a tiny package?"

Tears in her eyes, "I thought Tsubaki-kun was dead. I saw him crushed."

Looking back into her hand, "Well, he does look pretty crushed, but he sure talks a lot for a dead guy." Jessie was also seemingly moving things around in her hand as she spoke. "I'm not claiming I can fix him, so I can just hand him back if you were just planning to reassemble him later."

"No, I can't do it. I can't even see or hear him right now."

"You can't?" Jessie's voice had a certain panicked tinge to it as it dawned on her that she was in a room with several people and she was possibly seeing something none of them did. "Um..." Jessie was looking around as her hand started to shift in a way that would have Tsubaki possibly dropped to the ground, but then Urahara was suddenly holding her hand in place. 

"You don't want to drop him, do you?" Urahara asked in a cheerful, friendly tone. 

Looking at Urahara and then back down at her hand in his, "But he's not real. I'm obviously just imagining him."

Using a deceptively laid back tone, Urahara teasingly scolded, "You know you can see things others can't."

"Yeah, but not an entire person and he's fading now, so that's more evidence he's not really there."

In a quieter tone, Urahara said, "It's because you're fighting back your power by denying it. Don't you think it would make Orihime very happy if you could fix her little fairy friend?"

Glancing at Orihime's tear-streaked, yet hopeful face and then back to her hand, Jessie sighed and commented, "He says he's not a fairy and..." she grinned slightly, "...you don't need to hear the rest of his rudeness," and she resumed using her right hand to seemingly shift invisible pieces in her left hand. "He's lucky I did loads of puzzles as a kid." The rest of the room started seeing an increasing series of flashes in Jessie's hand. She pieced together bit by bit while letting herself zone out sound to prevent hearing Tsubaki's comments.

Finally, with the last piece being put in place, a larger flash hit everyone's eyes and they saw a fully restored Tsubaki fly off Jessie's hand and back to Orihime. "Tsubaki-kun, I thought I'd never see you again!" Orihime hugged Tsubaki who then smacked her in the head, called her an idiot and disappeared back into her hair pin. 

Meanwhile, Jessie looks at Urahara, "I need to sit, please, right now," and her legs were wobbly. Urahara barely got Jessie to a chair as her legs gave out from underneath her. "Thank you," Jessie said as she continued holding his hand for stability. 

Orihime came over to Jessie and quickly wrapped her in a hug, causing Jessie to let go of Urahara’s hand, "Thank you for saving Tsubaki-kun!" She then commented, "Sorry, I realize I don't know your name." Urahara made introductions and then Orihime said sincerely, "I will be forever grateful to you, Almanse-san!"

Jessie smiled. "It was no problem, Inoue-san. I'm just glad I could help" Orihime ran off to show everyone Tsubaki was back. "Urahara-san?" Jessie took Urahara's hand nearest her. 

"Hmmm?" Urahara looked down at her and responded. 

"I don't know how I did that but it seems to have emptied my energy." Jessie was blinking more as she fought the exhaustion. 

"Perhaps with practice you will be able to do more with less drain to your reserves." Meanwhile, Jessie had started to doze off and was leaning against Urahara's side. "Almanse-san?" she made a non-committal sound in reply. _*Well, if nothing else, I know she's safe if she's asleep in bed.*_ Urahara thought and picked Jessie up to put her back to bed.


	3. Jessie Meets Chad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tw: talk of self harm

Waking again on her bed roll, Jessie was wondering if waking in her room with no memory of getting there was going to be a routine going forward. She thought about Orihime’s formerly broken fairy and how Jessie had started fixing him without even thinking about it at the time. Somehow she could just clearly see how the pieces needed to connect and essentially willing them to hold together. Wondering if it was some type of instinct or her being caught up in the amazement of seeing fairies...

Then, she thought about how upfront she'd been about suicide and self harm in her talking to others. She'd always tried to hide it and, even now, wasn't planning to tell anyone about her blade or razor acquisition plans. So why was she telling them so blatantly about everything else? She knew she'd fully intended to give that first warning when deciding to stay, but after that, why did she bring it up? It was like she was practically begging them to stop her... She'd internally had such a desire in her past, but she never voiced it. Perhaps worried she'd then have confirmation that nobody cared. 

Was that why? Did she trust these people she had just met to care enough to help when she'd never even trusted her family to do that? Wasn't she ashamed? She'd always been ashamed for family or friends to get any hint of those aspects of herself and yet she seemed to be flaunting them at these near strangers. Was her intentions to be truthful about her ability to fulfill her purpose causing her to just blurt out all her truth all the time? She resolved herself to try to stop this practically begging for help. She reminded herself that she didn't want to be a burden or bother to anyone, ever. She couldn't let herself develop a taste for support when she knew it would likely be short lived. They'd inevitably get tired of her. If she could at least try to minimize the burden she put upon them, it might at least make it take longer for them to get sick of having her around.

Jessie also noted the cat was not with her. _*Probably already sick of me.*_ she thought as she sat up. It was light outside. She wondered how long she had slept. _*I need to get one of those clocks that show the date, too.*_

She was glad that at least she wasn't dizzy and her usual headache wasn't any worse than usual. Making it to her feet, she was pleased to find still no dizziness. She wandered downstairs and it didn't seem there was any impending meal, so she continued to wander and explore. She thought she heard explosions or something similar. Jessie followed the sound until she found an open hatch. Glancing down she saw a lllloooooonnnnnggggg drop down, shivered, and laid on the ground next to the opening so she could scoot her head past the edge to look without worry of falling. 

She was disappointed that she couldn't see much from where she was, but she could hear a little clearer. She was fairly certain she heard Renji's voice and a deep voice she didn't recognize. She noticed the ladder, but there was no way she trusted herself to make it all the way down that height without falling off. _*Even if I managed down, I think I'd need several rest points on the way back up.*_

"Thinking of jumping?" Jinta's voice came from right beside her, causing her to jump slightly and making her glad she was laying down. Seeming to remember the awkwardness of the last suicide joke he'd made, he swiftly back pedaled, "Not that I'm saying you would or should, I-"

"Actually," Jessie cut off his rambling, "I'm wondering why you wouldn't have an elevator installed for such a height to travel."

Cocky attitude restored, Jinta replied, "Probably because none of us are so weak or lazy to need one," and then proceeded to make his way down the ladder. Jessie decided this would be a good opportunity for a different task she had in mind.

\-----------

Jessie was in the storage room for the store. Ururu needed a new roll of receipt paper for the cash register. Jessie offered to fetch it to give herself an excuse...

Luckily, the appropriate box was labeled and she immediately had the receipt roll in one hand. And in her other hand, she slipped a box cutter into her pocket.

"Ah, Almanse-san!" Urahara's voice startled Jessie from his sudden appearance, "I see you are retrieving the receipt paper for Ururu."

Putting what she hoped was an innocent expression on her face, Jessie turned around and presented the receipt roll, saying "Ta da! I'll just hurry this out to her."

Her forward movement was hindered by a closed hand fan held horizontally in her path, "I hope you didn't have to open any boxes to find the receipt roll."

Continuing her attempt at innocence, Jessie smiled at Urahara, "Nope, they were just sitting on the shelf. No problem." 

Urahara then asked, "Do you expect you'll need to return here to retrieve anything else from any of these boxes?" Urahara was still blocking Jessie from leaving. 

With an irritated sigh and eye roll, Jessie grumbled, "Fine," and pulled the box cutter out of her pocket and laid it on Urahara's extended open hand.

With his well known light-hearted tone, Urahara said, "I'm sure it was just an oversight that caused you to absentmindedly pocket that," and he fanned himself, removing Jessie's only obstacle so she could leave.

"Right," she bit out as she went back into the store to give Ururu the receipt roll. She didn't see the serious look in Urahara’s eyes as they followed her out.

\---------

Jessie toyed with the idea of just grabbing a kitchen knife, though she knew that if Urahara could anticipate the box cutter he likely would be able to block her taking a knife from anywhere. She also knew if the pressure didn't get released she'd end up getting to a state where she would find she was hitting herself again. Whenever she had built up to a boiling point in the past, she would end up beating her fists into her legs until exhausting herself to the point she couldn't continue. Then she'd have heavily bruised thighs to hide. The thin lines when she would cut were far more discrete. 

Jessie hadn't even realized that after giving Ururu the receipt roll and leaving the store for the main living areas, she'd headed right to the kitchen and had just been standing in the middle of it and staring in the direction of a wall-mounted magnet that held an array of knives. She wasn't sure how long she'd been standing there before she became aware of herself again, but she decided to force herself to step back. As she did, she noticed Urahara standing in the doorway, realizing he must've followed her. 

Jessie bit her lip before asking, "Um... is another meal coming soon?... I'm kind of hungry..." which was truth even if it wasn't her initial reason for entering the kitchen. 

Before she knew it, Urahara had his fan in front of his face, but she thought she read concern in his eyes. She dismissed the idea and insisted to herself she either imagined it or it was just worry about not having her for whatever purpose she might have. There was no way he could possibly care beyond that. "Perhaps we shouldn't have let you sleep through breakfast after you'd missed dinner last night." He took a step back into the room with the table and gestured to it. "If you take a seat at your usual spot at the table, I'll go find Tessai to see if he might have something to tide you over until lunch."

Jessie nodded with a "Thank you," as she went to her seat. Urahara didn't move until she'd sat down and then disappeared when she blinked. Urahara returned less than 2 minutes later and said, "Tessai-san is on his way to prepare you something."

"Oh, he shouldn't have to do that. I could just wait until lunch."

Urahara waved the closed fan in his hand dismissively, claiming it was no imposition as he sat himself in his usual spot. 

Jessie raised an eyebrow in surprise, but didn't comment. She started absentmindedly repositioning items on the table while she felt scrutinized. To break the silence, and hopefully the tension with it, Jessie asked, "I had noticed in the other room that there's a deep hole in the floor with a long ladder down into it... Can I know what's down there?"

Urahara did not seem to have anticipated the question, so hesitated a moment before answering, "It's a training bunker that is for sparring and for safely honing and maintaining fighting skills."

"Oh," Jessie responded, "I figure I'll never see more of it because I don't think I could climb that long of a ladder. I hope anyone who goes down there is never too tired coming back up. That would be a long way to fall."

And the brief respite in the awkward silence was over. Fortunately, a few minutes later Tessai passed them on his way to the kitchen and wasn't long before bringing Jessie some cold soba. After she thanked Tessai and he left, Jessie started eating and Urahara showed no sign of planning to leave. 

Jessie ate in silence for several minutes until the quiet got to be too much for her to stand, so she blurted out, "I need something to do." She didn't look away from her food, so she didn't know if it provoked any particular reaction from Urahara, "Either to be useful or I could do busy work or help in the shop or even just something fun, but right now all I have is time for too much thinking."

With no immediate answer, Jessie nervously looked at Urahara, "A certain amount of thinking is helpful as you try to better understand your abilities, but give me a little time to think and I'm sure I can come up with something."

Jessie smiled appreciatively, "Thank you, Urahara-san." She finished eating and sat a minute before speaking again, "Do you ever play cards or games like that?"

With a smile, Urahara answered, "We do on occasion. Is that something you're skilled at?"

With a matching smile, "Not at all. My family were particularly bloodthirsty with games so I usually lost too quickly to improve my skills. And my Go skills are so bad that I literally ran out of people to play against me because it's not even worth their time." Jessie's expression had shifted to looking away with a frown at the end. "It's the same reason I can't play chess. I'm not good at that whole thinking multiple steps ahead. I only won at chess once and it was because it was someone really good at chess and my random chaos confused him because he kept trying to figure out my strategy. It didn't even occur to him until after that I had zero strategy," she got back some of her smile remembering the flabbergasted face of that chess opponent. She looked back at Urahara, "So, I guess I should only play against people who are either new to the games or who are so set in formal maneuvers that they can't handle random."

"Maybe you could improve with practice against some of us. We're not necessarily laid back, but I don't think we usually reach bloodthirsty."

"If nothing else, it might be fun," Jessie was rubbing the back of her neck. She blinked thoughtfully, tilting her head like she was listening to something, "Kurosaki-kun is training with wizards? Visors? Something like that."

"Did you just hear that?" Urahara asked, intrigued.

"Sort of... it was kind of like pictures and words at the same time but not matching. It was like..." she paused to think how best to describe it, "...like a puzzle sort of where I had to line it up right? He's doing something to make his mask better?" Her headache was getting worse so she pushed her empty dish aside and rested her head on her arms crossed on the table. 

"Perhaps you should go lie down and I'll send someone to get you for lunch."

Jessie carefully stood, "That's a good idea. Thank you," and she made her way unsteadily to her room to lie face down on her bed roll.

\-------

**_***Jessie paces in her bedroom. She didn't get lunch. She wanted to get dinner. But she was going to have to take back what she said. She didn't know what had compelled her to mention it. That was the real lie. She'd mentioned it because, yet again, she didn't know it was only her. She had to be careful. She had to call it a lie or a prank. It would get her punished. But that was better than the other option. If she held firm, they'd make her go to that place again to talk to that guy and his stupid puppets. She might only be seven, but she knew those glorified gloves were bullshit. They'd either go through the whole charade to get her to "admit" it wasn't true or they'd make her take those pills that made her sleepy and took the joy out of everything. And it didn't even change what she saw or heard, it just made her not care to mention anything. ***_ **

\-------

Ururu fetched Jessie a couple hours later for lunch. As Jessie sat at the table, Urahara asked her, "Feeling any better?" At her affirmative response, "I checked and nobody seems to know where Ichigo has gone off to, so it was very much appreciated by everyone concerned to know he is somewhere training."

Jessie continued to be surprised at how reflexively her mind seemed to reject any possible suggestion she did something right. But at the same time, she was grateful that it had given her practice at not always voicing it aloud because she knew how annoying people could find it.

At the table were the usual, plus a tall tanned man that she hadn't met before and Renji, who it seemed was involved in training the stranger. Urahara introduced him as Sado Yasutora though she was told everyone just called him Chad and he was seated to Jessie's right, the same spot as where Ichigo had sat beside her.

Jessie looked at Chad and he calmly looked back at her. "Would you be willing to let me hug you? It's ok if answer is no, I don't want to make you uncomfortable." Chad responded by a quiet pause and then opening his arms. Jessie leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him. She let out a little sigh before commenting, "You look so very huggable, I just couldn't resist. Thank you. You are just as good of a hug as you look, like a giant ball of comfort and safety that got formed into a person."

As she straightened back up and let Chad go, there was a slight pink tinge to the color of his face, but he otherwise made no comment. At that moment, the food was brought out. Jessie ate quietly while trying to discretely look at Chad out of the corner of her eye. When eating had finished, Chad and Renji were about to get up to go back to practice but Urahara convinced them to stay for after meal tea.

While everyone was sipping tea, Urahara comments, "Almanse-san, I couldn't help but notice that you seemed to be showing a similar interest in Chad that you did with Ichigo."

"I already got a hug, I shouldn't bother him more."

"I don't mind."

Chad pivoted slightly to face Jessie more directly. Jessie hesitated to move, "I... I shouldn't..." Jessie put her hands over her face. 

"Why?"

Jessie groaned and ran her hands up her face and into her hair to grab it and lightly start to tug it, saying, "I still feel like I'm going to be punished for lying."

"Do you plan to lie?" asked Urahara 

Pulling more on her hair, with her eyes closed and slightly rocking where she sat, "No but if you hear or see things nobody else does you have to keep quiet..." Her recent dream had brought memories to the surface that she would have preferred stay buried. "...if you can't prove something, then it's a lie..." Jessie's breathing had grown irregular and she was sort of scrunched up into herself, though still swaying a bit with tightly closed eyes and a steady pulling at her own hair.

Muscular arms wrapped around her and she partly deflated, like a growing explosive force had immediately gotten tamped down. It was like being embraced by the earth; it was sturdy and encompassing and more grounding than anything she'd ever felt. She found herself relaxing without consciously deciding to and leaning into the safety. She let go of her hair and relaxed her arms, and her breath evened out until finally Jessie could get herself to open her eyes.

She couldn't bring herself to look further up than the arms around her and she quietly said, "I'm sorry."

Her ear against his torso made the words rumble louder than they actually were, "Why do you apologize?"

Jessie had to think about that. Nobody rushed her to answer because they could see by the furrowing of her brow that she was working on it. "I... I-I'm too damaged to behave correctly. I can't always remember how to be a person and I think I'm doing it wrong."

"Jessie..." Urahara spoke quietly and Jessie couldn't stop herself raising her eyes to meet his, "You are a person. However you behave is as a person."

Jessie closed her eyes and a shudder ran through her before she reopened her eyes and said, "Right," like she'd made a decision. Then she took a deep breath and pulled away from Chad, keeping one hand flat against his chest. She closed her eyes again, focused, and said, "I don't understand what the voice is saying because it's not speaking Japanese. It's an old man's voice and I know what he wants me to do, but I don't understand the words that go with it."

"Can you repeat the words out loud?" Urahara asked while Jessie could feel a shift in Chad's heart rate and breathing.

"I can try, but I don't know if I can match the pronunciation, so I hope it is close enough to interpret." Jessie had a slight head tilt as she listened closely and did her best to repeat, "Otorgo... esto como... un... regalo para... mi... nieto..." Jessie opened up her eyes and pulled back her arm. She heard Chad take in a deep, stuttering breath.

"A gift from my abuelo, my grandfather," Chad said in a reserved tone, though his heart rate has increased some. 

Jessie shifted to kneeling facing Chad, "Is it ok if I um... sort of... um..." she kind of gestured to the general area of everything above the waist, "freely touch you?"

"Ok," Chad responded, as still as a statue.

"Thank you," Jessie then placed her hands on either side of the coin hanging from Chad's neck and looked in Chad's eyes, "I'm going to try to relay this to you the way it came to me as best I can. You are meant to protect and defend." 

She pulled back her hands, placing her right hand on Chad's right shoulder and then ran her left hand from beside her right hand down to his fingertips while saying, "Brazo Derecha de Gigante." Chad's right arm became armored in black and red, with a large shield on it. The shield featured a design that resembled an open mouth with long, sharp teeth. 

While everyone was reacting to that, Jessie placed her left hand on Chad's left shoulder and ran her right hand from beside her left down to his fingertips, saying "Brazo Izquierda del Diablo." Chad's left arm became covered in white with red markings and a spike that protruded from his shoulder. 

Finally, Jessie placed her hands on his shoulders where they connected to his neck and said, "Rapido," and Chad felt an energy awakening throughout his body.

Jessie stood and her arms hung limp at her sides, her body soaked in sweat, her breathing ragged and her body swaying. She felt her legs start to buckle before her world faded to black.


	4. Knowledge is Power

Jessie once again woke in bed. That had become all too familiar at this point. What was new was someone sitting beside her bed when she woke. "Inoue-san?" Jessie blinked her eyes a few times to be sure she was awake as she tried to sit up.

Jessie was a bit unsteady and might've had to lay back down if Orihime hadn't instantly wrapped arms tightly around her as she exclaimed, "Almanse-san! You're awake!"

"Oomph! I might not be for much longer if you crush my lungs," Jessie gasped. Thankfully, Orihime immediately loosened her hug slightly. "Now what's with the big excitement about my being awake?"

"We haven't been able to wake you for more than a day now," Urahara explained, having been alerted by Orihime’s loud greeting. 

"I tried to heal you but it didn't work," Orihime looked so apologetic and had pulled back to just holding Jessie's shoulders so that she could look at her face. 

Jessie wondered why then was she still so tired. She stifled a yawn as she hugged Orihime and said, "Thank you for your worry, Inoue-san, and please call me Jessie. It makes me feel like I'm old when you call me so formally." Another yawn, "And it makes sense you couldn't heal what wasn't an injury. I'm just tired is all." Jessie opened her eyes when she realized they were closed, she wasn't sure for how long.

"Inoue-san," Urahara said gently, "I think Almanse-san might still be needing more rest."

"Oh," Orihime saw that Jessie's latest blink had only half completed so her eyes were still shut. "Jessie-san, maybe you should eat something before you sleep more." 

Jessie opened her eyes and tried to focus them on Orihime, "I... I'm willing to try but... I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open so I think I could choke or something." Her words were made more compelling since they were slightly slurred and she ended up yawning between almost every other word. 

"Oh, that makes sense... um... is there anything I can do for you right now, Jessie-san?... Jessie-san?"

Urahara reached past her and eased Jessie to be horizontal again, "Inoue-san, I think letting her get more sleep is likely the best help you can give her right now."

"O-of course!" Orihime quickly rose and made her departure. 

\----------

Waking to an empty room, Jessie carefully sat up. She tilted her head back and forth, confirming no dizziness and her drowsiness had cleared, so she risked standing. Still no negative reactions, so she made her way downstairs and found Urahara seated at the table, "Glad to finally see you awake!" Urahara cheerfully declared. "Your timing is excellent because you're just in time for lunch and I'm sure you're starving after having slept for nearly three days."

"Three days!" Jessie exclaimed as she sat in her usual spot at the table, "Then I'm actually surprised I'm not more hungry than I am." Jessie thought for a moment, wrapping her head around the idea that she'd somehow slept for almost three days and didn't feel like it at all. Then, remembering what had occurred immediately prior to her long sleep, she looked at Urahara and asked, "So far, how is Chad doing?"

"His training is going phenomenally thanks to the upgrade you gave him. Plus, it's given us an insight into his powers having at least some relation to Hollows, given the mask on his shield."

"Hmm, the Hollow thing is interesting, but I didn't give him an upgrade. I just followed the instructing voice to find the latches that opened the locks on his power." While sitting at the table and waiting for lunch, the black cat approached and Jessie reached out, petting her. "Can I learn how to turn into a cat or dog, too? Or is it only certain people?" Jessie continued to pet Yoruichi, despite the cat freezing in surprise. 

Urahara had also stilled in surprise, but more so due to how laid back Jessie received and accepted the knowledge. "You know what I am?" Yoruichi asked. 

Jessie smiled, "Why is your voice so deep for a girl? I would think a cat would have smaller vocal chords and should be a higher pitch, if anything. Does this make it weird to have slept with you?" 

Yoruichi felt odd having this conversation while in cat form so she shifted to her human shape. "Did Urahara tell you?" Before Jessie could even answer, Urahara shook his head in reply. Turning back to Jessie and eyeing her suspiciously, "How long have you known?"

Jessie's eyes widened in surprise at the question, "Since you just walked in here."

"And you are taking the knowledge so easily?"

"Changing shape isn't as shocking as fairies that are still able to be jerks when in pieces or Urahara-san living in a puppet-shell or hearing Chad maybe having some connection to Hollows."

Urahara grinned gleefully, "Almanse-san has reached peak weirdness acceptance! I believe that means she is now officially one of us! She even was unphased by your nudity." Urahara somehow had a fan in each hand with "Welcome" and "One of us" on them.

Jessie looked at Yoruichi, "I'm assuming it has something to do with not being able to transform clothes so you would be nude to be a cat?" Yoruichi nodded, "Plus, you look good and if I looked as good as you, I'd probably try to be nude more frequently as well. So, is it something only you can do or only certain people or is there any way I could ever do it?"

Yoruichi gave Jessie a scrutinizing look, "It is possible for you to learn to transform, but I'm not sure yet if I'm willing to teach you."

"Is there anything I can do to persuade you?" Jessie asked, wide-eyed and eager now that she knew there was any chance at all.

Yoruichi got a sly grin and shifted back into her cat form, "I'll get back to you on that. In the meantime, you can do that scratchy petting thing you've done before." Jessie eventually had Yoruichi purring and asleep in her lap and Jessie was hoping that was a good start.

\-------

After eating, Jessie felt top priority was a shower since it had been days since her last shower. She turned the water as hot as she could stand and let it hit her scalp, trying to lessen the headache she felt throbbing. She felt like there were vague flutters of something on the edges of her mind. She wasn't sure what it was or if she should be concerned, but she tried to make a mental note to remain aware of it. She also wondered if it had any connection to why sometimes her hands started to look wrong, though they'd always come back into focus looking fine.

As she finished dressing, she looked out her bedroom window. It looked nice outside. A thought occurred to her and she left her room.

\-------

Jessie asked Ururu for some shoes, realizing she didn't have any. Fortunately, Ururu was able to find some that would fit her. Tessai saw Jessie by the front door, putting on shoes and asked where she was going. 

Jessie replied, "Unless I'm a prisoner, I'm going to assume I'm allowed to go for a walk. I realized that I haven't been outdoors since coming here and sunlight is good for mood."

Tessai didn't stop her, but he did inform Urahara after she left. 

Jessie was being very careful to stay on the same street. She intended to return and didn't want to get lost. She knew she'd had a terrible sense of direction in her old world and wasn't sure if that carried over to this new world. Plus, since this was her first time outside, there was enough to look at without venturing off that road. 

Jessie enjoyed looking at the various homes and people milling about. All so normal and yet, so different from where she grew up. She was surprised at her mood actually improving some. Despite what she had said to Tessai, she really didn't expect it to help her mood at all. She even greeted a dog that was roaming the area. Squatting down, "Hello, little pup." The dog wagged its tail. "I'm happy to meet you, too. Can I pet you?" Jessie took the dog moving closer to her as an approval and started giving the dog chin skritches. The dog seemed to approve. After a few minutes, both she and the dog looked in the same direction. Then a roaring was heard from that direction. "Well, that doesn't sound good." The dog barked agreement. 

As a large hollow made an appearance from behind a nearby building, the dog took a defensive position. "Do you really think you could take him?" Jessie placed a hand on the dog. "I think I can release a better form for you." She concentrated on opening a latch on the spirit dog and he grew as large as a more prehistoric ancestor of wolves. "That's all I can do for you, dude. The rest depends on you." The giant monster dog chuffed approval and ran at the hollow, teeth bared. Jessie sat down on the ground.

Dog versus hollow and the dog was doing a good job dodging attacks. He was also keeping the hollow focused on himself each time the hollow turned towards Jessie. "I hope you know how to defeat it, superpup, because I can't run and I can't even call for help."

The dog was doing his best, but was essentially stalling for time and, fortunately for both Jessie and the dog, Urahara appeared out of nowhere and with a single quick slash of his sword, the hollow was gone. Urahara had gone out to make sure Jessie wasn't planning to do anything stupid

Upon the hollow's defeat, the large dog returned to Jessie and started licking her affectionately and reverted back to his small size. Jessie was giggling as the black and brown dog had its paws on her shoulders and continued to lick her face, "You were a really good boy, thank you." As Urahara approached, Jessie looked up at him with a smile and said, "You were a really good boy, too. Thank you." At Urahara's serious expression, Jessie focused back on the dog. "I just wanted to see the area and get some fresh air and sun."

"In future," Urahara squatted beside the still seated Jessie, "I'd prefer if you tell me of your intentions so I can arrange for someone to accompany you for your protection." His tone wasn't his flippant version, but it also wasn't harsh. 

Still petting the dog, Jessie quietly said, "I was afraid you'd say no."

A sigh from Urahara and then, in a gentle voice, "I hope you can have more faith in me than that."

"If he wants to stay, could I keep the dog?"

An enthusiastic bark gave the dog's opinion. As an answer, Urahara asked, "What will you name him?"

Urahara was happy to see the large smile that appeared on Jessie's face as she addressed the dog, "What do you want as your name?" Jessie tilted her head as though listening to the dog, "Touya?" Approving bark. Then, addressing Urahara, "I guess technically it's another skill I have that I didn't mention, but whenever I've gotten an animal companion, I've always known it was a good bond if I heard them tell me their name." She frowned, continuing to pet the dog, and in a smaller voice added, "Though I know it's probably not an actual ability. I've always been told it's just me fooling myself." She looked at Urahara, "But I hear it so clearly. I even had a dog that I was going to name Audrey because she reminded me of a famous actress, but the first three times I tried to call her by name, my mouth said Chloe. After the third time I gave in to the universe and made that her official name." 

Staring at the dog, Jessie could still see the latch was not locked back in place. "I opened a latch on Touya that let him get big. Should I reseal it or should I leave him the option of choosing what form he wants to be at any given time?"

"What do you prefer?"

"If it won't be bad for him, I want him to be able to get big when he needs to so that he can be safe."

"Then there's your answer. Can you stand?"

"Maybe. Opening Touya was kind of tiring, but I'm willing to try if you could help me to my feet." Jessie took Urahara's hand and with his help, she stood. She was still a bit unsteady.

Urahara made a decision and picked up Jessie and the dog and returned them quickly back to the store. "It's nearly dinner," he stated as he set Jessie at the table.

"Do spirit dogs eat?" Jessie asked. 

"The larger form uses more energy, so it is likely he needs to eat to restore what he lost." Urahara sat beside Jessie, "The more things you do, the better grasp I have on your skill set and I think you are gifted with an ability to see truth and interact or unleash it. The way you see my gigai, Inoue-san's fairy and the seal on this dog's spirit all suggest this."

Jessie smiled, "That sounds really cool."

"I'm glad you agree."

Jessie had a thought occur to her and she was rolling it around in her mind until Urahara asked her what she was thinking about. "That was a Hollow, right?" At a nod from Urahara, she continued, "What did she look like to you?"

Intrigued, Urahara described the very standard-looking low-level hollow. He could see Jessie processing before she responded, "She had long hair on one side of her face, but cut short on the other side with a braid of pink hair woven into the shorter hair. She had makeup on but her mascara ran down her face like she'd been crying. And she had a rope looped around her neck that looked like a noose." She thought for a moment before adding, "Though I don't know what use any of that would be to see that, I know you like data."

Urahara gave a nod, "Knowledge is power."


	5. Get a Room

Jessie stood just outside the front of the store. She'd let Urahara know she wasn't going to wander, she was just playing fetch with Touya in front of the shop. 

Touya eagerly dropped the ball back into Jessie's hand, "I've got to get one of those ball flinging things because I'm not throwing you any kind of challenge, am I?"

Touya gave a happy bark that seemed to suggest he wasn't disappointed. Jessie smiled and gave him skritches behind his ears, "For now, since I know you can run in the air, I'll include trying to throw it onto nearby roofs, too. Okay?" Happy barks of agreement rang out. "Here it goes! Oomph!" Jessie let the ball fly through the air, dog already in the air after it and chasing it over a nearby building. 

While Jessie watched happily, she felt something to her right and turned to see a plain random guy walking towards her. Meanwhile, Touya had found that the ball had been snatched and flung much, much further away and required a much longer chase. As the man approached Jessie, she started to ask, "Can I..." but before she could add the words "help you?" Jessie found herself blinking at the man's appearance as things shifted. 

"Arrancar?" Jessie gasped. Urahara had told Jessie about them when telling her about gigai, Shinigami, Hollows, etc. Though he appeared cloaked in something, presumably as a disguise, she could see through it to the hole running through him and the sword at his hip. A shiver ran through her at the sight, but not of fear, but of the words that traveled up her spine to her mouth, "A child will destroy you."

The Arrancar paused, still several strides away, and looked at her in confusion. The confusion turned to irritation as he processed her words and then he reached towards his sword as he threw off his disguise and started forward again. At that moment, Ururu exited the shop, stiffened and turned toward the Arrancar and rushed at him. He was quickly dispatched and then Ururu calmly turned to Jessie to inform her that lunch was ready. Jessie thanked her and let her know she'd be in as soon as Touya returned with his ball. 

Once Ururu went back inside, Jessie looked to her left and up and made direct eye contact with another Arrancar that was watching from a nearby rooftop. As Touya came trotting back, ball proudly displayed between his teeth, she watched as the Arrancar disappeared from sight. "Good boy," she mumbled to Touya and they both went into the shop. 

\-----

Sitting at the table, while Touya went to be fed by Tessai in the kitchen, Jessie looked to Urahara as he spoke to her, "Ururu tells me we had an unexpected intruder."

"Actually, we had two," Jessie replied. Urahara looked alarmed so Jessie elaborated, "The one Ururu handled was very low level, but the very, very powerful one..." Jessie shuddered, "I didn't consciously notice him until Ururu returned inside. He was watching from a rooftop and left almost immediately."

"I'm not sure why they'd be showing up now, except recon to test our responses," Urahara absently fanned himself as he thought. Jessie thought his serious face was when he looked the cutest, so she couldn't help herself staring. When Urahara noticed and looked in her direction, she averted her gaze to focus on her food as she ate. Urahara then watched her from over his fan and Jessie's cheeks were tinged pink as she carefully ate. 

"Geez, get a room..." Jinta grumbled under his breath, causing Jessie to look at him curiously, but Jinta avoided eye contact while Urahara chuckled under his breath. 

\-----

Sitting cross legged on top of her futon, Jessie rubbed the back of her neck, silently pleading with her body to make her headache go down a notch. 

"I thought I told you to tell me when you're not feeling well," came Urahara’s voice from the doorway. 

Looking up and meeting his eyes, she replied, "I took that more as a don't lie if asked. If I sought you out every time I've felt bad since getting here, I might as well sew myself to your side."

Urahara frowned at that statement and entered her room, "Don't you think that is something to be concerned about?"

Jessie shook her head slightly, then regretted it saying, "Even where I'm from, I used to get headaches all the time. Mom was always pushing me to take some pills for it but I didn't need to be taking any more pills. Plus, the few times I gave in, the pills didn't help anyway. No use in pointlessly polluting my body."

"May I sit beside you again?"

"Sure," as Urahara moved, Jessie watched him curiously. 

After sitting beside Jessie, Urahara asked, "If you don't mind my touching you, turn so your back is to me and I'll see if I can help. And if you say you don't want to be a bother, I will smack you with my fan." Despite herself, Jessie chuckled slightly as she turned her back to Urahara.

Jessie felt her hair gently gathered and draped over her shoulder and then Urahara’s long fingers lightly grip her shoulders. She couldn’t stop herself melting slightly. Urahara seemed to have a sixth sense about exactly where and how firmly to press her muscles. Jessie's head tilted forward and a contented sigh escaped her mouth. "Urahara-san, is there any way I could convince you to do this many, many, many more times in the future?"

"Perhaps," Urahara replied and Jessie could hear the grin in his tone.

Jessie felt tensions she wasn't even aware of melting under his ministrations. Her headache was dissipating and she even felt her mood was improving. "And I thought I couldn't ever be happier to have met you."

"If you flatter me any further, I'm going to start to get an ego," Urahara commented, leading to a bigger laugh escaping from Jessie. 

"Start to get an ego? I've heard that you practically have a big sign floating above you that says 'I'm amazing' and- oh my God, seriously," Jessie groaned as he managed to unclench a muscle she had forgotten could even do so, "sewing myself to your side doesn't sound such an awful prospect." Urahara just chuckled as Jessie continued to dissolve into a puddle, "Giving you more power is probably dangerous, but seriously I think you have found the key where you could probably talk me into anything right now." 

Urahara chuckled, "You are dangerously close to getting yourself mixed up in some trouble."

"Didn't you say trouble was a good thing?" Jessie wasn't sure what had gotten her in such a mood but she assumed likely due to feeling the best she'd felt in ages... and having the hands of a man she was attracted to touching her body wasn't exactly a recipe for a bad mood. "And I can't remember the last time I was in such a good mood. I'm not even sure what to do with myself when I'm in a good mood." She paused a moment to feel herself melt just a bit more as Urahara continued his ministrations, "I'm half afraid I'll spoil this good mood and the other half afraid I won't take full enough advantage of it."

"What would qualify as taking full advantage?"

"An option that could go either direction would be if I were to inquire if you'd be interested in expanding your attention to the rest of my body..." Despite her infrequent bravery showing itself in her even saying that, there was a vocal portion of her mind expecting rejection and revulsion. The worry part gained traction when his hands stopped moving. 

Urahara tipped Jessie towards himself to be leaning her back against his chest. He brought his face near her ear and asked, "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" His breath hit her ear and elicited a shiver. 

"If you think I'm suggesting everything from what you're currently doing all the way up to, and including where neither of us are wearing clothes, then yes I am." Jessie tried to radiate confidence and not the negative ball of inadequacy within her that was anticipating emphatic rejection. 

Lips came into contact with the side of Jessie's neck, causing her breath to stutter and her hand to reach back of its own choosing to encourage him to continue, "Are you certain it's what you want?"

Her voice was unsteady, "When I'm not in the middle of my negative thoughts, all I could think of was wanting to pounce on you." While his mouth continued to explore her neck, his quiet laugh led to multiple shivers running through her body. Urahara worked his mouth up Jessie's neck to her ear, sucking on her earlobe. Jessie tilted her head in encouragement and received kisses along her jaw towards her mouth. 

Jessie shifted her body to rotate enough to meet his mouth with hers, tongues immediately meeting in a breathless exchange. She ended up sitting in his lap with her legs to one side. While kissing, both sets of hands wandered boldly. After some time passed with hands and mouth in a make out session worthy of horny teenagers, Urahara asked, "How about we relocate to my room?" At Jessie's enthusiastic agreement, she was being scooped up and suddenly finding herself carried to his room. A fun time was had.


	6. The Morning After

Laying, naked, sweaty and catching their breath in Urahara's bed, the return of higher brain functions had Jessie turning quiet beside Urahara. Jessie was staring at the ceiling and Urahara was nuzzling her neck and side of her face lazily. Despite being quiet, she couldn't help the shivers when he'd find the most reactive spots. The arm still under him was lazily trailing fingers along his back. 

Jessie felt like she might drift off to sleep at any moment, she couldn't remember the last time she was so relaxed. Her mind had been so focused on the immediate moment, and the pleasure and exploration of their bodies, that everything else in her had been quiet. 

Between that full body focus and the lazy drift towards sleep, Jessie's mind unfortunately had time to start up some of those scripts usually running in the back of her mind. She tried to ignore them, trying to hold on to that blissful peace she'd tasted. 

Urahara was an observant man and noticed that Jessie's body had started to tense. He shifted to rest his head on his hand, elbow bent into the bed, and looking down at Jessie. 

"Is something wrong?"

Jessie glanced at Urahara and then away before quietly replying, "Just noticing how obvious the part of my brain that hates me is after having enjoyed drowning it out for awhile." Jessie closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. Still not making eye contact, she continued, "All the doubts and worries and self-hate just come flooding back in and I don't know how to shut it off." Urahara reached his free hand to run a finger across Jessie's lower lip, stopping her from chewing it, though it already bled slightly. "I want to be able to just be present, and not annoying, but part of me wants to ask if you really like me or if it was spur of the moment and if I was awful and if-" her words were cut off by Urahara’s tongue in her mouth. 

Urahara was a man of science and, as such, was always in search of more knowledge and eager to learn. He'd already discovered several ways he'd been able to cause Jessie to be 100% focused on what he was doing and decided to try out a few more. Once he had Jessie gasping and melting beneath him, he spoke, "I really like you. You were not awful and in fact, the way you and your body react are a major turn on. And I'm willing to remind you of these things as frequently as possible."

Jessie looked up into Urahara's smiling face, "How are you so damn sexy?"

"It's a burden I've learned to live with. Hopefully, you won't think less of me for it."

Jessie pushed some of Urahara's hair back behind his ear, "I hope this means you'll call me Jessie more often now."

"As long as you call me Kisuke," he replied before kissing her again. 

Between kisses, and looking up at his face, Jessie commented, "You look best to me behind your mask, when you're not pretending anything. Not that you're not always damn sexy, but I want to know you as fully as is possible. The real and total you."

Urahara slightly frowned, "What makes you so certain you would like the 'real' me?"

"I've been seeing more layers of people lately. It still seems to be more exhausting and painful to look too long or try to look too deep, but I couldn't help myself with you. I love to look at you and any way I could justify looking at you more I couldn't resist," she blushed and averted her eyes, choosing to gaze at his core and focus, "You have so many layers and sometimes I'll see brief flashes of something that isn't really even seeing. It's like a feeling or a moment encapsulated into a single sensation and I don't know how to explain it better just yet." She was getting another headache so she pulled back her vision to focus her eyes on Urahara's mouth. "I just know that I don't want to be anywhere but here with you."

Urahara tilted Jessie's chin up to get her to look in his eyes, "I don't know how to feel about anyone seeing me so openly. I'll admit it's something I mostly try to avoid, but for some reason it doesn't bother me the same way if it's you," he got a smirk on his face and added, "Plus, I think I've been getting better at reading you as well."

Jessie couldn't avert her eyes easily with him still holding her face, so she closed her eyes, "Oh?" Jessie's blush deepened.

"For example, right now you're wanting me to kiss you."

Jessie opened her eyes, "Is that so?"

Confidently, he answered, "Without a doubt."

"Then what are you wai-" Urahara was kissing her before she could even finish her sentence. 

\------

Eventually, Jessie and Urahara left his bedroom for breakfast. 

Sitting in their usual places at the table, they were surrounded by the usual as well as Renji and Chad. Touya was also present, laying in Jessie's lap, seemingly attempting to make up for the snub of not having seen her since the day prior. 

Nobody was commenting on the visible love marks covering anywhere skin was exposed, nor the especially chipper mood of, two of those at the table. 

"Breakfast tastes even more delicious than your usual, Tessai-san," Urahara commented on a cheerful voice. When Tessai responded that it was no different than usual, Urahara responded, "Oh, it must just be tasting better because I'm in such a good mood then." Jessie couldn't help the blush when Urahara winked at her. 

"I swear I will puke if you don't shut up," growled Jinta. 

Jessie debated continuing the flirting to see how upset they could make Jinta or to take pity on him and try to shift the conversation to something else. She decided she'd leave the sly comments to Urahara, since he was so much better at those. Instead, she thought about something to say when she was done eating and then focused on eating and keeping an ear out for anything else to respond to. Except for a few more looks between them, Urahara seemed to have taken pity on poor, suffering Jinta. 

When finished eating, Jessie stood, giving a direct look at Urahara, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and take a nice... hot... shower," before casually walking out of the room. She slowly made her way to the bathroom. 

At the table, Urahara just giggled before leaving the room. 

Catching up with Jessie, "I'm thinking you might like company for that shower."

Closing the bathroom door behind her, Jessie moved closer to Urahara, saying, "Well that's because you are a very smart man..." Jessie kissed him and added, "Plus, I really could not have been more obvious unless I'd just straight up had said 'come get naked and wet with me'." She blushed deeply despite the positive expression that put on Urahara's face.


	7. Soul Society Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know the Soul Society is gonna be interested in talk of an alleged seer appearing out of nowhere.

After their shower, Urahara had things to do while Jessie once again played fetch with Touya in front of the shop. 

Urahara came outside and kissed her, "The big wigs at Soul Society want to meet you."

Jessie looked at him wide-eyed, "Why?"

As Urahara led her inside, "Well, you're a very interesting person."

"We'll have to agree to disagree on that," Jessie responded as Urahara led her in front of a large screen that showed a room with a central chair holding an old man and then people lined up in rows on either side. Jessie flinched and put a hand over one of her eyes, closing both, as a headache immediately hit her.

Concerned, Urahara put a hand on Jessie's shoulder, "What's wrong, Jesschan?"

Jessie took a shaky breath, "I-it's so much at once. It's like my eyes couldn't decide where to look."

"Hmm..." Urahara adjusted the view on their side to only show Genryusai Yamamoto Shigekuni, his lieutenant Sasakibe Chōjirō and scientist Kurotsuchi Mayuri. "Is this better?"

Jessie hesitantly peeked toward the screen and released a relieved sigh, "Yes. Thank you. That's much better," Taking a more direct look at them, she said, "So the old man of fire and his lieutenant and the scientist without empathy."

"What have you been told of us?" Yamamoto asked, suspiciously.

Jessie gave him a confused look, "I was only told important people from Soul Society wanted to talk to me. What makes you think I've been forewarned?"

"Forewarned is an interesting way to describe it since it makes it sound like you've been told that we are a threat to you," Yamamoto spoke in a confrontational tone that made Jessie want to leave the room.

Jessie took a deep breath in and out, looking directly to Yamamoto's eyes, "The one beside you that lacks empathy has a look towards me as a scientist to a new specimen. It's difficult not to take that as a threat. I'm not interested in being taken apart and cataloged. If I saw nothing else, the size of the pile of bodies he stands on is repulsive enough to make me uninterested in any association with any of you. He may be almost as intelligent as Urahara-san, but I don't see why that should give him a complete lack of supervision over who he kills or tortures."

Kurotsuchi started to argue about his intelligence in relation to Urahara, while Yamamoto started to bluster about disrespect, but Jessie had already turned and left the room. 

Urahara followed right behind her as she entered the next room and she immediately leaned against a wall while hyperventilating, sliding down to sit on the ground. "S-sorry," Jessie gasped out, "I d-don't know w-what came over me. I-I'm usually so obedient to authority. It's just..." she trailed off as Urahara knelt beside her and she hugged her knees and bent her head down.

"Try to take deep, slow breaths," Urahara spoke in a gentle voice as he reached a hand out to stroke her head, soothingly. 

She tried to slow her breathing as more words spilled out, "...I was seeing so many bodies... torn apart in different ways, put together and torn apart again... detonating people who report to him as they beg for him to spare them..." Jessie wasn't sure when she'd started crying, "I know he's necessary in some ways. I know you must've had your reasons for recruiting him," Urahara's hand stopped moving for a fraction of a second before he continued his attempt to soothe her, "...but shouldn't he be held accountable? Shouldn't they prevent him killing even his own subordinates without even their consent to be used like disposable objects?"

Urahara pulled Jessie into a hug and rubbed her back in circular motions, regretting many things, but most of all having subjected her to a situation that caused her to see such awful things. 

"How about you go lie down in your room and try to take a nap?" Jessie nodded and Urahara helped her back to her feet. Once she’d left the room, Urahara went back to the view screen. It was now just Kyōraku Shunsui in view, sitting in the seat previously occupied by Yamamoto.

Before Urahara could ask, Kyōraku spoke, "Flared tempers and complaints of disrespect cleared them out and it was decided it would be a better idea if she spoke with someone... less concerned about feeling disrespected."

"I've sent her to go lie down. She had a bad reaction to having seen things that Mayuri has done. Perhaps you could have someone look into some of the accusations..."

\-----

Urahara and Kyōraku scheduled a talk with Jessie for another day and Jessie was relieved to hear it. Lunch and dinner were uneventful, to Jessie's relief as well. 

After dinner, Jessie, Urahara, Yoruichi, Jinta, Ururu and Tessai were all watching a movie together. Leaning against Urahara, with her head on his shoulder, Jessie was trying not to move too much because her head was throbbing and she didn't want to complain. She had considered asking Urahara for another massage, but was afraid she'd make him feel she was too needy.

Urahara stroked the back of Jessie's head, "What's wrong?"

"I'm fine," Jessie replied, not looking at Urahara. 

Urahara took hold of Jessie's face and turned it towards himself, "There's no use lying to me. You've already admitted that you know I'm very smart."

Jessie closed her eyes, "It's just a really intense headache."

"I did promise you more massages; you need only to ask."

Jessie opened her eyes, "I just don't want to become another chore on your to-do list."

Urahara got a bit of a pervy smile, "But I enjoy 'doing' you."

Despite her throbbing headache, Jessie couldn't help but return the smile, "I like you 'doing' me, too."

"Seriously, I'm going to vomit if you two don't cut it out," grumbled Jinta. 

"I think it's sweet that he found someone pervy like him," Ururu said.

"Oh my God, Kisuke, that feels so good," moaned Jessie as Urahara had already started working his magic with his fingers on Jessie's head, neck and shoulders. A few minutes later, they were alone in the room. If anyone had remained to hear the giggling, there might have been accusations of intent. 

Time passed in comfortable silence, having turned off the movie, until "I remembered something," Urahara's hands stilled as Jessie continued, "And it wasn't just now. It's actually been coalescing for days now and it might be too weird to tell you."

"I've never encountered anything I could consider too weird," Urahara boldly declared. "Plus, you can't tease me with information and then withhold it from me. You wouldn't be that cruel."

Turning to bring her legs 90 degrees so that she was sitting with her side leaning against his chest. Jessie threaded her fingers with Urahara's hand and stared at their interlocked fingers as she confessed,"I remembered that I... before I came here, I... several times, I... I dreamed of you." She squeezed his hand, "I didn't consciously remember that, nor what the dreams contained, until recently, but I think they were part of the reason I was able to trust you so fully before I even had a chance to know you very well or to have my ability to just see it by looking at you..."

"You remember the content of the dreams?"

"I remember them as well as I do any of my memories from before I came here," Jessie still hadn't made eye contact and Urahara couldn't help but feel like he could detect feelings of guilt coming off Jessie in waves.

"Why does that have you feeling so guilty?"

Jessie hesitated to answer for several minutes, while Urahara could see that she seemed to be working herself up to be able to voice her reply, "Because it's not fair to you... You only know what I tell you about my past but I think, in my dreams, I think I was... I was watching your past..."

That was something Urahara hadn't expected. On one hand, it might've explained how he had so easily felt like she understood him. On the other, it intensified his previous feelings of being vulnerable and exposed, possibly even moreso than Yoruichi and Tessai knew him. He wanted to know more, but at the same time he didn't. Having her aware of parts of his past without knowing which parts, would leave him feeling too much on unsteady ground, but knowing... knowing exactly would make the exposure even more tangible. Of course, when the choices boiled down to options for more knowledge or less, he'd always choose more, "Can you tell me what you know?"

Jessie found herself once again with a bleeding lip from chewing on it. She spoke with an apologetic tone, as though she was listing things she'd done wrong, "You becoming a captain... you recruiting that... that man from imprisonment... the time when you sent your lieutenant to investigate something, only to find her and others had been experimented on... you trying to help them and you and Tessai-san being exiled but Yoruichi-san helping you both to escape..." Jessie's voice had grown quieter as she went on, "...saving a woman after a hollow infected her... there might have been other snippets, but that's mostly what I can remember."

Jessie sat quietly. Urahara didn't speak. Jessie got off his lap and stood, "I've got a pretty strong headache still, so I'm just going to go to bed early." Urahara frowned as he watched her leave the room.


	8. Warnings and Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nightmare has Jessie running back to safety and she has a face to face with representatives of Soul Society. Also, more lore is revealed.

In the middle of the night, alone except for Touya, Jessie woke up with head still pounding. Her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest from the nightmare she'd just had; she'd found herself caught in the role of specimen she'd just that day objected to.

She hadn't seen Kurotsuchi Mayuri in the dream, but could sense her tormentor lurking in the shadows, on the edge where she couldn't reach. Upon waking, she immediately yearned for her Kisuke. 

As she stood, she wondered if it would be acceptable for her to go knock on Urahara's door to see if he'd let her in or if she should force herself to wait for when next Urahara sought her out; he might be mad at her for the violation of his privacy she'd admitted to. Despite not having had the choice of what to dream, and that she'd dreamt prior to ever meeting him, Jessie felt like she'd betrayed Urahara by having the knowledge without his permission. She felt she should have apologized for that, but also should apologize for having gone to bed instead of staying for whatever response he might've had. Decision made, she left her room.

Even though it was after midnight, she decided to first check where she'd last seen him. The TV was still on and he was still seated in the same spot. As she approached, he woke up, having apparently fallen asleep there at some point. 

Jessie stood before him, staring at her own feet, her hands were shaking still from the remnants of the nightmare that still clung to her, "I had a bad dream. May I seek safety with you?"

In response, Urahara pulled Jessie closer and positioned her back to sitting on his lap. "Do you want to tell me about it?" He wrapped his arms around Jessie, noting she was still trembling. 

Jessie relayed the details of her dream as best as she could recall. She mentioned how she'd found herself being tested physically but even moreso mentally, as she found herself the apparent test subject of some experiment beyond her understanding. She described feeling herself straying further and further from being able to remember who she even was. She talked of how she had found herself desperately seeking a guide post, something she could grasp to not lose her way and that was when she'd woken up and immediately went to find him. "I know I always feel safe with you and I regret leaving so abruptly earlier. I was afraid you'd tell me you didn't want to be around me any more because I feel like I've betrayed you by knowing so much without your consent. I'm sorry for that."

Urahara kissed Jessie's forehead, "You didn't ask for the knowledge and, even if you had, how could I hold it against you to want to know more about the man you've entrusted your entire life to?" 

She wrapped her arms around his neck while nuzzling her face against his neck, "Well, I'm sorry for how I left. I should remember that you are the best treatment for any way that I feel bad."

Urahara squeezed his arms tightly around Jessie's waist while she was kissing his neck, "Are you feeling any better?"

"No, I'm still feeling severely deficient in my daily allotment of Kisuke."

"Oh, well we can't have that. Would you like to receive treatment in bed?"

"That sounds like the best course of action," Jessie agreed before Urahara stood and carried her to his room.

\--------

Yep, waking up wrapped up with this sexy man, and with spirit dog asleep on her feet, had to be safest and most wonderful-feeling way to wake up. This time said man was already awake and appeared to be deep in thought. She squirmed slightly to draw his attention, "Good morning," she sighed as he began kissing her neck. 

"It's a very good morning indeed," he only briefly paused to speak before his mouth was once again busy.

"Will we be late to breakfast?"

Checking the time before letting his hands get more bold, "Looks like we missed it entirely. We should just keep busy and maybe fit in a shower before lunch."

Meanwhile, Touya relocated himself to sleeping on the pile of clothes left on the floor that he gathered into a comfortable nest. 

\-------

Lunchtime, they were sat in their usual spots at the table. Urahara absently played with his fan while they waited for food and he was back to appearing deep in thought.

Jessie was more focused on Touya, once again demanding lap privileges. The shameless ham was on his back and wiggling his tummy at Jessie so that she really had no choice but to give him tummy rubs. 

About an hour later, Captains Kyōraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jūshirō enter the room after Urahara. Urahara made introductions and Jessie immediately liked them. If she wasn't already addicted to her Kisuke, she'd likely swoon over these handsome men. 

Captain Kyōraku was a brunet with long hair held tied back, just a stubble of facial hair on his chiseled face. He had a strong build despite his flowery kimono obscuring most of it. Like Urahara, he seemed to favor a wide brimmed hat to help obscure his expressions when preferred, but she could see in his eyes a keen mind and strong will that was tempered by humor and a laid back attitude. She knew she'd never have been so bold as to actually hit on him, she was still shocked she'd somehow managed to admit to Kisuke her attraction to him, but she knew if she'd never met Urahara that this Captain was who'd she'd likely pine for.

Captain Ukitake had long, gray hair despite his youthful face. His skin had a pallor that suggested a less than healthy condition, but it didn't take away from the gentle strength in his eyes. She could see he also had a keen mind with compassion and humor and a strength far beyond what his possibly underweight build might s

"Oh, you are so much better to meet! Both of you glow with the capacity for empathy and patience. If I had seen you two first, I'd hold a much better opinion of Shinigami and Soul Society than I currently do."

Captain Kyōraku took one of Jessie's hands in his and smiled a charming smile, "How about we all sit and get comfortable while we get better acquainted?"

"That sounds a wonderful idea," Jessie replied as they sat at the table with Jessie and Urahara in their usual spots and the Captains on either side between them. Sake was brought out, though Jessie chose to drink tea.

Jessie shouldn't have been surprised when Urahara called her out for her repeated glances at Captain Ukitake, he always was so observant. Jessie blushed and looked directly at Captain Ukitake, "I'm sorry for the extra attention, it's just that I am... confused by your having inside you a part of the arm of the man in pieces."

Jessie couldn't miss the jolt that seemed to hit all three men. Captain Kyōraku asked, "Man in pieces?"

Jessie nodded, "I don't understand how he is still alive despite being in pieces but I thought maybe it is by what he's contained in that sustains him? I'm not sure, but Captain Ukitake, would you be willing to let me touch you? I don't mean it in any sort of creepy way or anything."

Captain Ukitake gave a brief glance at the other two men before looking at Jessie and responding, "I'll allow it."

Jessie shifted herself onto her knees and shuffled herself close enough that her knees were just short of touching Ukitake. She reached her hands out so her fingertips were on his chest over his lungs. She had a slight head tilt like she was listening to something and her eyes grew unfocused. Urahara recognized the tells and explained some more of what he knew about Jessie's abilities in general as well as theories on what he thought she might currently be doing. He knew she very likely wouldn't hear any of it due to her present focus. 

Jessie hadn't explained, but her eyes had shown her a locked box and her ears a request of a favor. As she connected her fingertips to Ukitake, she first heard parents pleading for the saving of their dying child and a replaying to her eyes and ears of the response. The arm that was a fragment of the Soul King had taken mercy on the parents and did what it could to save him. However, it was limited in its abilities, due to only being a fraction of the whole, and did the best it could at the time. Unfortunately, this led to Captain Ukitake frequently being ill with bouts of coughing up blood.

Now that it linked to Jessie's energies, powered by a source so identical and yet different to itself, it could follow the link to its doppelganger. The Soul King's division had occurred in every near-vibrational dimension, but differed in the divisions themselves. In Jessie's dimension of origin, it had been split only into two pieces: logic and emotion, heaven and earth, father and son. There was also a force, known as the hallowed spirit, that was the energy connecting the halves that had reformed themselves into separate beings: father Reason and son Empathy (emotion/empathy). This split didn't leave either half devoid of the other aspect, just containing the greater portion. Reason saw the bigger picture and overall 'plan', such as it was. Empathy was more the 'man on the street' level of connection to the people and therefore more awash in the day to day moments and their emotional aspects. 

The Soul King of Jessie's current world was aware of this, just as the one from Jessie's origin knew of the other. Reason had known of the Soul King's impending need for maintaining balance and Empathy had created Jessie's soul in such a way as to prepare her to be what was needed. Though the Soul King was usually the exception to foresight, Jessie had been created in such a way and specially chosen as originating from a different Soul King, to provide an albeit limited work around.

Jessie was not enlightened fully to the whole of the hows and why's of what was happening and would only be able to relay her experience. She saw the lock box melt away and then energy flowing from herself into Ukitake's lungs. Her energy met up with the energy from the current dimension's Soul King and, once combined, was able to fully achieve what had been attempted when Ukitake had been only 3 years old. Captain Ukitake widened his eyes in surprise as he felt himself take the first deep, pain-free and complete breath he could ever remember taking in his long life. 

Jessie smiled at him, though she was panting from exertion, and said, "I hope that feels better." Jessie then started to reach a shaky hand towards rubbing the back of her neck as she said, "Kisuke..."

Urahara swiftly moved to sit behind her, hands going to her shoulders, "I've got you," he soothed as Jessie slumped back to lean against his chest. 

"Are you all right, Almanse-san?" Ukitake asked, "I hope you didn't hurt yourself for my sake."

Jessie smiled at him, though her head flopped back onto Urahara's shoulder, "I'm fine, Captain, don't worry about me. I'm mostly just a little burned out." Jessie tried to rally her internal resources as Urahara kneaded the tensed muscles of her neck and shoulders, but the disruption proved too great to overcome and she found the world going black.

As she climbed her way back up from the dark, she overheard talking around her.

"...for a connection to the Soul King, but it seems at least similar," came Urahara’s voice. 

"I just hate to think I've put a strain on her system," Captain Ukitake worried.

"She tends to have a similar reaction after any larger than usual utilization of her abilities, but it seems to lead to an increase in abilities and her spiritual pressure following each event. This time it seems more of an overload rather than an energy depletion," Urahara explained soothingly. Then, as Jessie made a slight moan and blinked her eyes open, "I see you've returned to us in a timely manner," he cheerfully looked at her as he helped her sit up and lean back against him. Her head had been resting on his lap. 

Jessie noted the two Shinigami Captains were still in their same seats. She felt like every cell in her body was tingling. She held up one of her hands to look at it, "It doesn't seem I was out very long. Am I glowing?" She flexed her hand as she looked at it before answering her own question, "Hmmm... doesn't look like it. But I swear I feel like I could shoot lightening from my fingers right now." She stared at her hand another minute before leaning her head back onto Urahara's shoulder. 

"You were out less than a half hour," Urahara leaned Jessie forward before he started massaging her neck and shoulders again. 

Jessie sighed and let her head lean forward, "Sorry for checking out for a bit, but I don't feel tired or anything, so that hopefully won't happen again." She indulged relaxing in the quiet for a minute as the Captains drank, Urahara massaged and she felt relaxation flow through her body. After that indulgent minute, she looked up at the man in front of her, "Captain Ukitake, how are you feeling?"

Ukitake smiled, "I'm feeling better than I can remember ever having felt. Thank you."

Jessie looked towards the other Captain, "Don't want to be ignoring you, Captain Kyōraku. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Captain Kyōraku smiled at her, "I'm mostly just enjoying this sake Urahara has so kindly supplied, but if you have anything you see in me that you think I should know, I'm open to hearing it."

Jessie tried to look closer at Captain Kyōraku. Urahara could feel Jessie's muscles clenching up and did his best to counter it with his skilled hands. After a minute, she blinked and said, "I can feel there's something, but it seems beyond my abilities to reach. Sorry."

Captain Kyōraku shrugged, "Well, that is something to look forward to as you abilities grow." He took another long drink, then asked, "I hope we've at least improved your first impressions of Soul Society enough to hopefully continue a relationship with us."

Jessie nodded, "Yes, I like the both of you much, much better, so I have at least more of a willingness to believe that maybe Soul Society isn't completely horrible and maybe I can hope to be helpful to you in the future." Her look grew serious, "I do still have reservations, however, based on some of your members and also the way that Urahara-san has been treated in the past."

The two Captains shared a look, this is what they'd anticipated having to deal with in this meeting, and what they'd hoped had been derailed to deal with another day. Captain Kyōraku spoke, "Dealing with previous events is going to take some time due to work on gathering evidence, witnesses and verifying details before anything can be done. It is planned, but unfortunately the threat of Aizen is currently requiring resources to be focused elsewhere," he looked at her with sincerity, "Please trust that I promise you that I will make sure it happens once we are no longer under immediate threat. In the meantime, we have set up safeguards and surveillance to assure nothing of the sort occurs going forward. And as we know that Captain Kurotsuchi is very smart, and will likely try to circumvent any accountability or oversight, we have enlisted the help of Urahara-san to assist in compensating for that. We're also hoping that this assistance will expedite the clearing of Urahara's name and the revoking of his exile."

Jessie had observed Captain Kyōraku closely as he spoke and, much like how she'd been able to see his capacity for patience and empathy, she could feel he was speaking truthfully. She smiled at him, "I believe you, but know that I will not forget to verify that those things occur. I cannot support any group that will allow such abhorrent acts to continue."

"Of course," Captain Kyōraku nodded, finishing off his current serving of sake as both Captains stood, "I'll officially authorize Urahara-san to be able to share with you his efforts and will also keep you apprised of progress on data gathering once it begins." He had gestured for Urahara and Jessie to stay seated as the Captains stood, "I appreciate the hospitality of sharing your sake, Urahara-san. Almanse-san, it has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance, and Captain Ukitake and myself can show ourselves out." He even gave Jessie a polite bow before they departed. 

"I like him," Jessie commented, "I like both of them, though not as much as I like you..." she turned her head to kiss Urahara. "In fact, if you're interested, I'd like to show you how much I really like you..." Urahara didn't need any further encouragement before getting them to the bedroom.


	9. Jessie Feels Popular

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems everyone wants to hang out with Jessie today.

Jessie was helping out in the shop. She had a irresistible urge to better organize and display the wares ever since she really took a look at the current layout. Urahara had resisted initially, since the store was really more of a front than it was a thriving business... at least as far as the types of items on display. Jessie had argued that not only did that not mean that things had to look unkempt, but also that it would be nice to present a better first impression for anyone entering for his primary purpose. She was really enjoying herself and letting every deep down anal-retentive tendency she had have its way with the place.

At some point, a customer entered. It was a cute, young girl with hair sort of a dirty-blonde and a sweet and angelic face.

"I've got this," Jinta declared as he pushed Jessie in his rush to get to the customer. Jessie heard him address the girl as Yuzu. Jessie approached, ignoring Jinta's not-at-all-subtle attempts to get Jessie to stop her approach.

"Hello, my name is Jessie. It sounds like you are named Yuzu?"

With a polite nod, she more formally responded, "Kurosaki Yuzu."

"Are you related to Ichigo?"

"He's my older brother," she replied.

"Oh, but it looks like you have a blockage... Do you have trouble seeing things?"

Yuzu's eyes widened, "You mean like spirits and Hollows?" Yuzu asked, surprised. 

"Yeah, do you want me to fix it?"

"You can do that?" Yuzu spoke like Jessie had just offered her all the money and puppies in the world. 

Jessie nodded, "Yeah, just hold still a minute," she reached for Yuzu's head and placed her palm against the young girl's forehead. Jessie focused on directing the misaligned channels that she could see, so that they ran correctly and things flowed the way she intuitively knew they should. "Do you feel any different?" Jessie asked as she withdrew her hand.

Yuzu looked around, "I'm not sure. Maybe?"

"Perhaps I can help with that," Urahara offered, appearing out of nowhere. When Yuzu gave him her attention, he asked, "Do you see anyone in that doorway?" At her affirmative response, Urahara turned toward the doorway, "Thank you, Renji. You can go back to Chad now." Then turning back to Yuzu and Jessie, "Congratulations, you saw a spirit."

Yuzu smiled wide, "Wow, he was as clear as any of you!" Yuzu clasped Jessie's hands in her own and looked up into her face with bright eyes, "Thank you! Please come to dinner tonight so I can thank you properly, please!"

"Um, you don't have to do that. It barely required any effort and your thank you is plenty-"

"I insist!" Yuzu got a serious look on her face that made her relation to Ichigo much easier to see.

Jessie smiled, "Well, then, I guess I'll come to dinner."

Yuzu's face instantly switched back to sweet and happy, "Good. I'll send Ichigo to come at 5:30 to walk you over." She quickly finished up her candy purchase with Jinta and then rushed off.

Jessie looked at Urahara, "I thought Ichigo was still training with those mask people."

"He is, and they're called Visored. Ichigo is in spirit form while training, so he has a mod soul inhabiting his body in the mean time. A mod soul is an artificially created soul for the specific purpose of allowing a spirit to exit their body."

Jessie asked, "Is it okay for me to go? I assumed you'd say something if I needed to firmly refuse."

Urahara smiled, and hugged her, "Oh, Jessie, you sometimes make me feel like your warden. Kon, the mod soul, should be sufficiently capable of getting you away from any Hollows that might show on your walk there and back. I know you've felt cooped up in here but are too polite to bother anyone to go out." He looked down into her eyes, "Really, I should be encouraging you out more often. Perhaps we could, in the very least, take a daily stroll. The fresh air would likely be good for both of us. Your lack of demands has really spoiled me to be too lazy, so I'll try to think of some additional things we could do in the future. In the meantime," he walked with his arm around her shoulder to guide her to somewhere to sit inside, "there are some things I need to warn you about prior to your arriving at the Kurosaki household."

\------

When Kon arrived to escort Jessie, she looked him over, "It is so weird to see Ichigo’s body without Ichigo in it," when Kon got a worried look, Jessie rushed to reassure him, "Don't worry, Kon. I know I'm not to say anything at your home. Lead the way, please."

As they walked, Kon couldn't help asking questions, "Is it true you just fell from the ceiling?"

Jessie laughed, "Yeah, and I even had a bruise to show for it."

"And you're from a different dimension?" At Jessie's nod, "What's it like where you're from?"

"It is mostly the same as here as far as I can tell, except people like me are considered massive freaks that need to be medicated and possibly locked away from all the normal people."

"People like you?"

"People who claim to see and hear things others don't."

"Oh," Kon replied as they continued their walk in quiet. 

Arriving at the Kurosaki household, Jessie removed her shoes and then followed Kon to the kitchen. Yuzu was busy cooking but paused to welcome Jessie, introduce her twin, Karin, and mention their father was closing up the clinic and would be joining them in a few minutes. Jessie looked around and saw the house was nice and well maintained and then she gasped.

"What?" Kon asked. 

Jessie walked over to a poster on one of the walls. She reached a hand to it, "What is this?"

"Out mother died several years ago. That is a poster of her that dad cries to whenever we make him emotional," explained Yuzu.

"Your mother was beautiful. And her poster... glows... so brightly..."

"It glows?" Karin decided to engage. 

"Yeah, like a beacon. It's weird but... it's like it... um, I'm not sure how to describe it... like it sort of... radiates..." Jessie touched a single finger to it, "...love?"

"Really?" The twins spoke as one. Karin sounded skeptical while Yuzu managed to make it sound hopeful. They both came over to hesitantly each touch a fingertip to the poster. 

"Masaki! Our daughters have finally felt your love as it still rains down on them every day!" Isshin spoke dramatically while joining his daughters at the poster. Jessie had felt his presence coming and had already backed away as she'd watched him enter the room. She continued to inch farther away. "Oh but Masaki! Who is this that brought our daughters back into your loving radiance?" Isshin directed his attention towards Jessie, causing her to slip behind Kon. 

Yuzu rushed back to her cooking to stir something and turn off the stove, "This is Jessie-san. She fixed my spirit blindness. Maybe she could fix yours, too."

"No," Jessie quickly interjected, "your dad doesn't have the same problem you had... I can't fix him." This was true, since she could see he didn't need fixing and knew she wasn't to let that info out, so this was the only kind of 'lying' she didn't feel too awkward at - lie of omission, since she didn't actually say anything untrue.

Isshin continued to focus his attention on Jessie, which was making her contemplate making a quick escape. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Jessie-san. Thank you for your assistance to my daughter."

"You're welcome, Kurosaki-sensei. I'm going to not talk anymore now because I'm not good at not just saying what I'm thinking, so please just tell me when and where to sit, please."

Isshin frowned, "I don't want you to feel unwelcome here."

Jessie tried to stay quiet. She could see things and it seemed so stupid not to mention them when they were so obvious (to her) and right in her face. How could she think of other things when she essentially had flashing signs in front of her that were demanding to be acknowledged?

Kon spoke, "You know nobody is going to hurt you, right?"

Jessie nodded at him and, despite herself, spoke, "It's just so weird to see all of you knowing the same things but all pretending you don't because you don't realize everyone else knows those things, too. Like some kind of game of information chicken."

The family looked at each other, thoughtful expressions on each of their faces. Yuzu spoke first, "Dinner is ready."

Tensions briefly forgotten as everyone got themselves sat at the table with food in front of each. Then, Isshin took another glance around before seeming to come to a decision and speaking to Jessie, "Please feel welcome to behave and speak normally."

Jessie has started eating already. She looked around and then focused on Yuzu, "You are an especially good cook for someone still so young, Yuzu-chan. Though, even if you were my age it would still be impressive to me because I am a horrible cook. I've been known to wander off and forget I was cooking until the smoke alarm goes off. And even when that doesn't happen, I seem to be able to screw up even the most basic recipes. As far as I'm concerned, people really good at cooking like you, are basically powerful wizards."

Yuzu blushed, "It's just something that came naturally to me. It's really not that impressive. I could even teach you some recipes some time if you'd like."

Jessie's eyes widened, "Really? It would be nice if I could make at least a few things, but I'm really uncoordinated and the world might be safer if I stay away from fire and scalding liquids. If you'd seen my original body, you'd worry how someone could have so many oil burns without it being intentional."

Jessie found several confused faces looking at her, "Original body?" Yuzu asked. 

"Oh, I forgot that you guys wouldn't know about where I came from. I was brought over from a parallel dimension, though we're not completely sure why yet, and my body changed during the move. It got all shiny new like it's never been used." Seeing blank stares, Jessie frowned, "Maybe I shouldn't have assumed that you'd be OK with different dimensions just because you know about ghosts and Shinigami and artificial people."

"Artificial people?" Asked Karin.

"Well, however you think about Kon since I know you're aware he's not really Ichigo."

Karin laughed at Kon's shocked expression, "Well, he's not the best actor. Plus I've seen him next to Ichi-nii when he's in those black robes."

"And we've known our brother all our lives. We know how he acts and how it feels to be around the real him," added Yuzu. 

"Does that mean I can stop all the scowling? I don't know how Ichigo does it without getting a headache all the time," Kon got a relieved look on his (well, technically Ichigo’s) face.

"So, where is the real Ichigo right now?" Yuzu looked at Jessie as she asked. 

"Well..." Jessie awkwardly glanced around, "...technically only half of you know that, so I'll let you sort that out amongst yourselves."

Karin gave Isshin a glare that meant essentially 'you will be telling me or once there are no witnesses I'll kick your ass.'

Jessie tried to focus on eating. 

Kon asked, "Is there anything else we all know but don't know we all know?"

While chewing, Jessie looked over the group. "There's nothing else screaming at me, but I see, well really kind of hear but with my eyes? It's hard to explain. I can see that this family really loves each other but there's a lot of 'not telling others about stuff for their protection' that should probably get discussed."

\-------

As Kon walked Jessie back to Urahara's store, they got about halfway there before Jessie stopped and stiffened before turning around and placing a hand on Kon's chest to stop him. "Run home."

"What?" Kon asked, confused. 

Jessie looks intensely into Kon's eyes, "Tell Kisuke that you would've been destroyed. Now go, run home," they both looked several yards to Kon's right as a Garganta began to form. Kon made a move as if to pick Jessie up, but she stopped him, "He's come for me. If you take me away, he follows and many die or get hurt, but if you run now at least they'll know what happened to me," Ulquiorra stepped out of the Garganta, "Please!" Jessie shoved Kon and, with one last doubtful look, he ran away.

Jessie walked towards Ulquiorra. 

"You were expecting me," Ulquiorra spoke it as a statement that almost sounded like a question. 

"Yes. There didn't seem a way out of it, but this involved the least bloodshed. No need for anyone getting hurt on my account," Jessie took Ulquiorra's offered hand as he helped her into the Garganta. Jessie took what she worried might be her last look at the human world as she watched the Garganta close behind them.


End file.
